Study: Lawmakers skip more lame-duck votes

A recent study suggests that lawmakers are significantly more likely to miss votes during lame-duck sessions of Congress.

Researchers at George Mason University analyzed more than 50,000 House and Senate roll-call votes. They found that House members are 50 percent more likely to miss votes, and senators were 30 percent more likely to do the same.

{mosads}”Like everyone else, members of Congress don’t work as hard when they know no one is watching,” wrote researchers Matthew Mitchell and Emily Washington.

The study also found that lame-duck lawmakers are 3 to 4 percent less likely to vote along party lines. Mitchell and Washington suggested that members who have just been voted out of office or are retiring aren’t under as much pressure to follow party leaders or outside groups.

“Because they don’t face pressure to bow to party leadership to see their policy agendas advanced, lame duck members can vote as they see fit even if this means siding with the opposite party,” they said.

The House and Senate will both return to Washington on Nov. 12 for the post-election legislative session after seven weeks in recess. Members are currently out on the campaign trail ahead of the Nov. 4 midterm elections.

Congress may debate an authorization of military force against Islamic extremists and extend long-expired tax breaks when it returns. The only major deadline facing lawmakers is the expiration of government funding on Dec. 11. The Terrorism Risk Insurance program (TRIA), which was enacted after the 9/11 attacks, will also expire on Dec. 31.