Today’s Capitol Hill grind: Reid recesses the Senate to get some work done

By Lisa Mascaro

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 6:05 p.m.

WASHINGTON — As his side of the Capitol grew increasingly dysfunctional today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called it the “surreal world in the Senate,” and linked the presumed Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, to the partisan warfare grinding business to a halt.

Congress traditionally slows as the presidential contests heat up, but on Tuesday, just days after the race between McCain of Arizona and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois began in earnest, the Senate was practically moving backward.

Midday, Senate Republicans objected to a routine request to allow a Senate committee to meet while the Senate was in session.

Republicans are still fuming over Reid’s inability to have three of President Bush’s judicial nominees approved in a timely manner, and they protested holding a Judiciary Committee meeting where judges were not on the agenda.

However, on the committee’s agenda was a hearing on interrogation techniques (read: torture).

Reid said Republicans were blocking a torture hearing and then he pulled a stunt of his own. He recessed the Senate, a fairly dramatic step, so the Judiciary Committee could conduct its business.

The stunt and counter-stunt followed morning votes when Republicans blocked debate on two Democratic energy bills.

“We’ve got the surreal world in the Senate,” Reid said during a meeting of party leaders at Democratic National Committee headquarters to show a united front behind Obama after the grueling primary season.

Senators, Reid said, were blocked from debating gas prices, renewable energy and even torture “in the surreal world that John McCain signed onto, led by Republicans in the Senate.”

“We have in the Republican nominee a flawed candidate,” Reid continued. “His temperament is wrong. He’s wrong on the war. He’s wrong on the economy.”

Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a cross-Capitol criticism of Senate Republicans.

Republicans, meanwhile, mocked Democrats’ energy bills, calling one the “no energy bill” because it would create new taxes on oil companies and fails to allow more drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to increase oil supply.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also tied in presidential politics, criticizing Obama for saying he would have “preferred a gradual adjustment” in gas prices.

“A gradual adjustment to $4 gas is not an energy plan for America,” McConnell said. “As Republicans have repeatedly said… conservation measures are important... But we can't conserve our way out of this problem.”

Reid, who endorsed Obama last Friday, after having remained neutral during the race, turned to baseball analogies to talk up the presumed nominee.

“He’s truly an all-star,” Reid said. “This man can run the bases, he goes for the long ball, he’s really good at picking out singles and he’s somebody who’s a team player.”