100 days and counting
TEXT OF STORY
SCOTT JAGOW: Today is the 100th day of the new Democratic Congress. The Democrats had six things on their “first 100 days” agenda. The House passed all of those items by mid-January. But the Senate, well, not much has gotten through the Senate. Pat Loeb has more.
PAT LOEB: The Senate passed its own version of a minimum wage hike, but that still has to be reconciled with the House version. It’s taken no action yet on lowering Medicare drug prices, reducing interest rates on student loans or ending big oil subsidies.
Still, Congress has been busy. It met 48 days in the first quarter — a third more than any of the last three Congresses.
Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution says it may not have produced many new laws, but it’s held far more oversight hearings on serious public policy issues.
THOMAS MANN: Congress has awakened from its deep sleep when it comes to overseeing the executive, and that certainly has been a hallmark of the first 100 days.
Mann says the reality is it’ll take a lot more than 100 days to pass such an ambitious agenda.
Senate Democrats say they hope to get the bills to the President’s desk by the summer recess.
I’m Pat Loeb for Marketplace.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
