Taking Action or Virtue Signaling

It's a sad thing to watch Congress these days.  It has never been pretty to follow what happens at the Capitol day after day, but it has gotten so much worse lately.  The House of Representatives no longer seems even to be serious about dealing with problems.  They spend their time voting on bills that have no chance of passage in the Senate.  And make no mistake about it, these votes are not the start of a long negotiation with the Senate to come to some agreement.  No, these are virtue signaling bills.  This week, for instance, the House voted to end drilling in certain offshore areas even though there's no way the Senate would pass this or the President sign it.  It might be possible to trade of a drilling ban in some of these areas as part of an overall agreement on a batch of needed legislation, but the House seems to have no interest in getting anything done.

For its part, the Senate is focused on confirming nominees.  There have now been 150 judges confirmed after nomination by President Trump.  This is a record pace for confirmations.  In that respect, the Senate is taking its duties seriously.