John Boehner’s Part Time Job: Speaker Of The House
Speaker of the House John Boehner is second in line, behind the Vice President, to be President of the United States. So it should come as a great surprise that in Speaker Boehner’s first month, according to The Huffington Post, the House has been in session only half the amount of time as his predecessor’s, Nancy Pelosi, and has passed only four bills, compared to Nancy Pelosi’s first month, in which the House passed nineteen historic bills.
“Where are the jobs, Mr. Boehner?” is a retort often heard in America. Given how much time this House gavels in, it’s fair to say John Boehner’s part time — not full time — job is running the House. (We already know some say John Boehner “is not a hard worker.”)
Read: “64% Say Unemployment, Economy Greatest Problem, So GOP Focus On Abortion“
“Gaveled in on Jan. 5, 2011, Boehner presided over the passage of four bills during his first month as speaker, with a total of just 25 votes. The most notable of those was a repeal the president’s signature health care law — a move that was viewed as a strictly symbolic gesture, as it is not expected to pass or even get a vote in the Senate.
“By contrast, Pelosi, gaveled in on Jan. 4, 2007, led the Democratic Congress in passing 19 bills during her first month as speaker, including all six of the bills targeted in her “First 100 Hours” agenda.
“Why the discrepancy? Well, part of it is that Democratic Congress of 2007 spent more of its first month in session: As of Feb. 1, 2007, Congress had been in session for 16 days, 134 hours, and 50 minutes, according to the Congressional Record.
“By contrast, this year Republican leadership determined the House would be in session for only 11 days, 62 hours, and 5 minutes of its first month, according to the Congressional Record. Some of that time was spent reading the U.S. Constitution on the House floor; original parts of the Constitution that were later amended, including sections referencing slavery, were omitted.”
Yes, that’s right, John Boehner’s House was open for business for 62 hours in his first month, compared to Nancy Pelosi’s House, which was open for 134 hours.
But maybe this is by design?
Last year, possible presidential candidate and Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal said, “We used to pay farmers not to grow crops. Let’s pay congressmen to stay out of Washington, D.C.”
But it goes further than that. In 1994, the Heritage Foundation published a piece advocating a part time Congress. And supposedly, the founding fathers saw serving in Congress as a part time job.
And they didn’t envision one political representative “speaking for hundreds of thousands of citizens.” Even some conservatives think we need a bigger House, presumably one that would not be a part time job, and one that would “make late-night C-SPAN so much more entertaining.” Not to mention, productive.
But it’s time to get real. The founding fathers didn’t envision an America with over 310 million people, the Internet, nuclear bombs, climate change, 9/11, marriage equality, stem cell research, or trips to outer space. And yet, that is who were are today.
Today’s America is vastly different from the America of our founding fathers who wrote our Constitution almost 225 years ago, just as the world today is different from when the Bible or the Qur’an, or the Torah were written. Folks trying to navigate the world solely with strict interpretation of any of these documents as their guide are ill-served and destined to make poor and wrong choices for the rest of us.
Congress is not a part time job. Americans need jobs. America needs ENDA to be passed. America needs DOMA to be repealed. (Think they can’t happen? Keep them invisible and they won’t.) Americans need their Congressmen and Congresswomen to get to work. It is the twenty-first century, after all.
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A large panel fell seemingly dozens of feet from above onto the stage during a rehearsal for a performance at an event for President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250, according to video posted by attorney Aaron Parnas.
“The stage is falling apart at the rehearsal for Freedom 250’s July 4th celebration,” Parnas wrote.
After the panel fell, someone can be heard on the video saying, “I was waiting for something like that to happen.”
Critics blasted the administration while others issued warnings.
“This is incredibly dangerous stuff,” wrote journalist Ryan Grim. “Trump cutting safety corners with stage building is the kind of thing somebody can genuinely be prosecuted for if someone dies, which is not uncommon if you slap it together like this. This equipment is deadly when falling from those heights.”
“Literally a miracle no one was hurt here,” noted journalist Philip Lewis.
“In all seriousness, that actually looks really dangerous for the performers. It’s scary how unsafe this all seems,” observed journalist Pablo Manríquez.
“The sheer incompetence of this administration is really rather astonishing. Everything these people touch is shoddily done. This era is replete with evidence that experience and professionalism actually matter,” wrote author Jennifer Erin Valent.
“If there was ever a metaphor for how historians will look back at Trump’s presidency at this moment in time, it’s this,” wrote health care consultant and National Organization for Women vice president Melanie D’Arrigo.
“The Freedom 250 rehearsal stage falling apart is the perfect analogy for the Trump administration,” The Lincoln Project commented.
“Glad everyone’s ok — it’s also hard to imagine a better metaphor for the current state of [America] than this,” wrote the progressive media outlet The Tennessee Holler.
“Trump’s state fair is *literally* falling apart,” remarked liberal political commentator Harry Sisson.
One commenter added, “Those performers are incredibly lucky. That falling piece of debris looked heavy, sharp and came down at incredible speed.”
Trump’s Freedom 250 July 4th event is also besieged by a massive heat wave enveloping part of the country.
“U.S. Capitol Police have already restricted Thursday night’s rehearsal for ‘A Capitol Fourth Concert’ to essential personnel, posting on X that they came to the decision after consulting with the Capitol’s Office of the Attending Physician,” The New Republic reported.
“For safety reasons, the public will not be able to attend tonight’s rehearsal concert,” the Capitol Police’s post read. “Everyone is sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. The National Weather Service is forecasting an extreme heat watch with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.”
The stage is falling apart at the rehearsal for Freedom 250’s July 4th celebration. pic.twitter.com/bPbg94hp6X
— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) July 2, 2026
Longtime political scientist Dr. Norman Ornstein on Thursday floated a prediction that one political commentator suggested could throw the November 2026 midterms into chaos.
“Something I predicted multiple times is about to come true,” said Ornstein, an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and contributing editor for The Atlantic.
Ornstein said that President Donald Trump’s acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, “is going to cut a deal with Maduro to have him falsely claim that Venezuela tilted the 2020 elections. In return, he and his wife are likely to be in the same prison as Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Maduro is Nicolás Maduro, the former president of Venezuela whom the U.S. Army’s Delta Force captured in January. He and his wife, currently imprisoned in Brooklyn, are expected to stand trial on numerous drug-trafficking charges.
Blanche reportedly is behind the controversial move of former Epstein partner Ghislaine Maxwell to a less-restrictive prison.
Political commentator Tara Setmayer, co-founder of The Seneca Project, appeared to agree with Ornstein.
“I’m hearing this Maduro rumor also,” she wrote. “As soon as he was captured, I thought Trump would try this nonsense.”
“Firing [Pam] Bondi, then [Tulsi] Gabbard opened up this scheme with Blanche & [Bill] Pulte as the henchmen,” she explained. Pulte is the acting Director of National Intelligence, who replaced Gabbard.
“I hope this doesn’t happen but it’s more than plausible and would throw the midterms into utter chaos,” Setmayer warned.
Political strategist and California State Senate candidate Christine Pelosi responded to Ornstein, saying, “Co-sign.”
She explained that she had discussed the scenario with journalist April Ryan back in February.
“My personal theory on this is, number one, Donald Trump can’t believe he lost” in 2020, Pelosi told Ryan. “He would like to take every ballot and recount them himself, but he can’t.”
“But I think they seized Georgia [ballots] because he wants to find a way to pardon Maduro,” Pelosi continued. “He wants to find a way for Maduro to admit election fraud in 2020, so he can justify taking over the financial resources of Venezuela. It’s always the money. Yes, it’s the racism. Yes, it’s the xenophobia. Yes, it’s the pulling up the ladder behind it. But ultimately, with Donald Trump, it is follow the money.”
Also responding to Ornstein was investigative journalist Dave Troy, who wrote: “This is insane but totally plausible. We are living in a fact-free world now.”
Image via Reuters
As temperatures in the Big Apple are set to hit triple digits, Republicans are melting down over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s request that residents in the five boroughs turn their air conditioners to 78 degrees — advice President Donald Trump’s own Department of Energy offers as well, as do some of their own states.
“New York: it’s hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool,” Mayor Mamdani noted on Wednesday, as a multi-day heat wave pushed temperatures to the mid-90s. Temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees on Thursday for the first time in over a decade.
“Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you’re not using, and unplug what you can,” Mamdani asked. “Our City is doing its part too: maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same, and powering down non-essential equipment. A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let’s ease demand — and get through the heat — together.”
That request did not go over well on the right.
“Welcome to socialism, where the government demands you turn your house into a sauna because they can’t plan for the super unpredictable fact that it tends to get hot in the summer,” retorted U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX).
“This is what socialism looks like, folks,” added Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP’s nominee for governor of Ohio. “The right answer isn’t restrictions or mandates. It’s drilling, fracking, coal, & nuclear. That’s how we’ll roll in Ohio.”
“In a first-world country, you could turn on the A/C….” wrote U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), only to be met with a community note on the X social media platform, which read: “Ted Cruz’s own state has made the same request on numerous occasions.”
Emmy Award-winning WTTG anchor Jim Lokay also responded to Senator Cruz, writing: “Trump’s own Department of Energy website recommends setting the AC at a range of 75-78 degrees.”
Indeed, on its website, the Department of Energy says: “The Department of Energy (DOE) and ENERGY STAR recommend finding a comfortable indoor temperature during the day and increasing it by 7°F when no one is home. Start with an indoor temperature between 75-78°F during the day.”
Critics slammed some of the Republicans’ responses — especially that of Sen. Cruz.
“You are the absolute LAST person to weigh in, Captain Cancun,” retired intelligence officer Travis Akers wrote.
“Your state’s electrical grid crashes if it gets too hot or cold, so I wouldn’t be throwing stones here,” said Democratic strategist Mike Nellis.
NYC SIZZLES 🥵: FOX Weather Senior Correspondent Robert Ray hits the scorching streets of New York City as an intense heat dome traps millions in life-threatening temperatures. New Yorkers are already feeling the burn: pic.twitter.com/HbMhU6L2P6
— FOX Weather (@foxweather) July 2, 2026
Image via Shutterstock
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