Senate Republicans refuse to work for more than two hours

Senate Republicans, still upset over the passage of health care reform legislation, have now taken to objecting to spending more than two hours a day on committee work, making good on a threat made by Sen. John McCain that there would be no Republican cooperation in the U.S. Senate for the rest of the year. Senate Republicans are using a Senate rule that states committees can only meet when the chamber is in session with the unanimous consent of all members, and while that consent has almost never been withheld, Republicans are now withholding it.

Without unanimous consent, committees are allowed to meet for only two hours following the opening of the Senate session, and on Wednesday the Senate session opened at 9:00 a.m. Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii had to shut down a hearing on efforts to end veteran homelessness in the next five years hearing in the Veterans’ Affairs Committee abruptly at 11:00 a.m. in the middle of the hearing. In a statement, Sen. Akaka slammed Republican obstructionism:

“The Senate should be a place for debate, but I cannot imagine how shutting down a hearing on helping homeless veterans has any part of the debate on the health insurance reform,” said Akaka. “I am deeply disappointed that my colleagues chose to hinder our common work to help end veteran homelessness.”

In addition to the abrupt end to the hearing in the Veterans’ Affairs committee, a hearing on national security issues was also halted in the Armed Services committee.

Putting partisanship ahead of our nation’s security and our veterans? Yep, that’s surely a winning strategy for Senate Republicans!