New House majority leader, Steny H. Hoyer, has said that starting in January, the House will be working five days a week. “I have bad news for you,” Hoyer told reporters. “Those trips you had planned in January, forget ‘em. We will be working almost every day in January, starting with the 4th.” Empathizing with the groaning reporters, Hoyer added, “I know, it’s awful, isn’t it?”

This new schedule is quite a change for lawmakers who were accustomed to hardly working at all. During the relatively few times the House wasn’t in recess, congressmen would start the workweek late Tuesday and end it on Thursday afternoon. The 109th Congress has only worked a total of 103 days, which is seven fewer days than the “Do-Nothing Congress” of 1948. Next year however, Hoyer says the House will meet every week at 6:30 pm Monday and finish at 2 pm Friday.

Democratic leaders say the new schedule is part of a more businesslike image. Hoping to score legislative victories within the first 100 hours of the new Congress, Democrats hope their ambitious agenda will pay-off by the 2008 campaigns. “We are going to meet sufficient times, so the committees can do their jobs on behalf of the American people,” Hoyer said.

For members of Congress from Alaska, Hawaii, or the West Coast, the new schedule means less time at home. “Keeping us up here eats away at families,” said Republican Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia. “Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families - that’s what this says.” The source does not say whether violin music and crying children were present when Kingston delivered the preceding statement.  However, Democratic Representative Mike Thompson of California said the schedule was “long overdue”.

Senate leaders have not set their schedule yet, but they generally work longer weeks than the House.

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