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U.S.WHAT JUST HAPPENED

Op-ed: Congress passed 34 laws amid 2,000 hearings

The Washington Examiner opinion piece says the public is exhausted by a legislature that has abandoned its primary duty; it is an argument, not a ruling.

On air: Chip Darnell and Hank Ledger on Meet the Pressure
Published
Photo: Beethoven · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Chip Darnell and Hank Ledger on this story, from Meet the Pressure at 9:05 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are Washington Examiner's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: U.S. Capitol
Photo: Beethoven · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

  1. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorA Washington Examiner opinion piece says Congress passed thirty-four laws while holding two thousand hearings, and calls it a Frankenstein Congress.

  2. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorTwo thousand hearings.

  3. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThirty-four laws. That's the number the writer leads with.

  4. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo what exactly happened this morning? Did something pass?

  5. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorNo. This is an opinion column. It argues the public is exhausted and lawmakers have abandoned their primary duty.

  6. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAbandoned it for what?

  7. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorGotcha politics, the piece says. Scoring points on camera instead of working on what citizens urgently need.

  8. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHearings as a product. And the laws are the free gift inside.

  9. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorHa! The writer says Capitol Hill has mutated. Hence the monster.

  10. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHow did we get here? Has Congress always worked like this?

  11. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe column describes a long slide. I'd note it's one outlet's view, and the data we have doesn't give a history.

  12. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorFair. So who feels it?

  13. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorAnyone waiting on a law. The piece says citizens are the ones paying for the gridlock.

  14. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorDoes the other side get a say?

  15. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorDefenders of hearings call them oversight, and every party says the other one is the showboat. Both sides get grilled here.

  16. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorOversight. Fine.

  17. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorNothing in this piece says either party gets a pass, to be clear.

  18. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo what's worth monitoring going forward?

  19. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWhether the hearing count climbs and whether the law count moves. It's not clear yet that either will.

  20. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo the one-sentence version again: lots of talking, thirty-four laws, and one very tired public.

  21. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorAnd a Sunday show in the middle of it.

  22. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWe've held more hearings this morning than we've passed laws. Brock, is it at least raining on Congress?

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The story so far

  1. Reuters/Ipsos Poll: Voters Say Washington Ignores AI Risk · Reuters
  2. The Hill Op-Ed: Congress's Crazy Behavior Is Rational · The Hill
  3. Senate Fails to Pass CLARITY Act; Crypto Rules Still in Limbo · Washington Examiner
  4. Axios: pollsters fear a polling error could flip Congress · Axios
  5. Trump appoints Katie Bailey as new chief White House liaison to… · Washington Examiner
  6. Congress urged to seal records that block Americans from work · The Hill
  7. Op-ed: Congress passed 34 laws amid 2,000 hearings (this story)
  8. Hollywood jobs flee overseas as Congress weighs film tax credit · Fox News

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