A "Do Nothing" Congress would harm Americans far less than this one.

“All hard work brings a profit,” says the Book of Proverbs, “but mere talk leads only to poverty.” When Mike Johnson told Americans that the Bible was “my worldview” shortly after he was first elected House speaker, he must have forgotten that passage. In his first year as speaker with a GOP president and Senate, Johnson, R-La., has increasingly forgone the hard work of legislating while apparently hoping his talk could obscure some uncomfortable truths for Republicans. Since the House passed a short-term funding bill Sept. 19, Johnson and the rest of the House Republican leadership team have kept their members out of Washington. Johnson and his leadership team insist that, because they passed the funding bill, it’s up to Senate Democrats to end the shutdown. In addition, keeping the House out of session means Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona can’t be sworn in. And until she’s sworn in, she can’t be the 218th signature on a discharge petition forcing a vote over the release of the government’s files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But as MSNBC’s Mychael Schnell reported last week, a growing number of GOP representatives are criticizing the strategy — ranging from Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to less conservative members like Kevin Kiley of California. This dissent is particularly noteworthy in a caucus that has consistently stayed in lockstep with leadership and especially with President Donald Trump. The House’s self-imposed absences, in fact, started long before mid-September. “Since July 3, the House has only been in session for 20 days (out of more than 100 calendar days),” Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan wrote Monday. On July 22, Johnson started the House’s summer break early rather than face a vote on releasing the Trump-Epstein files. From that point on, Sherman and Bresnahan write, “the House has been AWOL.” I would actually prefer it if this Congress were a "do nothing" Congress, but instead, it actively hurts people, protects pedophiles, and also allows the president to trample our Constitution unabated. Doing nothing would be better.