An amazing week

The days before the August congressional recess are always busy, but last week was extraordinary.

Congress finally passed a lobbying reform bill, an accomplishment that Democratic leaders will tout for months to come.

But they will not be crowing about the legislation that they cleared expanding the law governing eavesdropping on communications from abroad. The bill, a high priority for President Bush, was passed reluctantly before Congress adjourned this past weekend.

It did not come close to attracting the so-called majority of the majority, garnering the support of only 41 House Democrats and 16 Senate Democrats, plus Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has vowed to revisit the new law before it sunsets in six months, but the chances of it being revised before next year are slim.

Democrats in the lower chamber did ring up a fair number of accomplishments, passing energy and healthcare bills that are major parts of their domestic agenda.

The Senate cleared the long-stalled 9/11 Commission recommendations bill late last month, and the nominations of former Rep. Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) and Leslie Southwick surprisingly moved through committees in the upper chamber.

Yet the strain of the legislative schedule showed as the parties bickered in the lead-up to the recess. Republicans walked out of the House chamber, claiming that Democrats had broken the rules to prevent them from winning a vote on the floor. The unusual circumstances of that vote will now be investigated.

Meanwhile, the FBI raided Sen. Ted Stevens’s (R) home in Alaska, while the House ethics committee suspended its probe of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) at the request of federal prosecutors.

Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) stunned party leaders by announcing he would not seek reelection — after committing only a month ago to do so.

At the beginning of this year, the biggest political story was that we had new majorities in Congress, and a bright spotlight was on Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Over the next several weeks and months, the political spotlight will move to the early presidential primary states.

Certainly, Congress will command much attention in September, as the Democratic-led effort to withdraw troops from Iraq will grab many headlines.

Nevertheless, the presidential race will be front and center, and that will likely hamper the Democratic majorities on Capitol Hill as election-year politics will be in full force in an odd-number year. That is why Reid and Pelosi tried to cram so much into the late July and early August schedules, realizing that bipartisan deals on partisan matters will be tough to come by during the remainder of the 110th Congress.