House Speaker John Boehner has lashed out at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for wasting time on the Senate floor this month attacking the Koch brothers instead of attempting to pass legislation to get America working again.
In a conference call to Republicans on Wednesday, Boehner said the GOP-controlled House plans to move ahead with measures that "get people back to work" in "very stark contrast" to Senate Democrats like Reid,
Politico reported citing a source.
During the call, the Ohio congressman mentioned a column this week by the
Washington Examiner’s Byron York denouncing Reid, a Nevada Democrat, for eating up "precious Senate time" to continue his vendetta against billionaire conservative industrialists Charles and David Koch.
"In other words, at a time when Americans are concerned about the economy, jobs, and the security of our country, the leader of the dysfunctional, do-nothing Senate plans to spend the final legislative days before November talking about the Koch brothers," Boehner said.
"We have bills ready for floor action this month that are designed to drive this point home."
In his column, York condemned Reid’s plan to crusade against the Kochs while the Senate is in session during the next couple of weeks before breaking to allow candidates to campaign for the November elections.
"What is striking about the coming session is that Reid has decided to devote as much as half of the Senate's precious time in Washington to a measure that has no chance, absolutely zero chance, of passing," York wrote.
"Reid has decreed that the Senate's first order of legislative business will be a proposed constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to regulate every dollar raised and every dollar spent by every political campaign in America."
York said Reid’s legislation is "a way to bash the Koch brothers," who fund conservative and libertarian political causes, while also taking aim at "corporate money" in politics.
"Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both House and Senate, plus ratification by three-quarters of the states," York wrote. "This particular amendment, supported mostly by progressive Democrats, won't even get past the first step.
"So why would Reid devote precious time to an entirely futile exercise? Because the Senate's brief two weeks in Washington are all about the campaign to come."
After a summer hiatus, the House returns to work next week before taking a break to allow candidates to campaign for Election Day.
On the conference call, Boehner said that September will be "brief, but busy" while handling such issues as the government-funding bill, as well as assorted energy, healthcare, and economy measures, Politico reported.
The speaker told Republicans that most importantly he wants to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month by bringing up a funding bill soon after the House returns to work.
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