Maybe the Kabuki dance has just begun. Back in the days of Newt, Republicans figured out that it was more profitable electorally to block the incumbent Democrats than to legislate. So they blocked legislation that they would otherwise support. Both sides learned to play that game, with the result that very few bills get passed that do only one thing that makes one side or the other look good. Since there is only one president, anything good that happens makes the president's party look good, which means that nothing much happens in the legislature. Well, not nothing, but very little, as evidenced by the vast number of things in the bi-partisan Continuing Resolution that Trump and Musk blew up. Why weren't those things enacted during the year?

All those good laws - and yes, some pork that voters like - that should have been passed still need to be passed. That's what must-pass bills are for. By pretending to fight over things like a government shut-down or raising the silly debt ceiling, the legislature can pass all of the bills the president would get credit for all at once in a bi-partisan flurry of activity for which the president gets no credit. That's especially true this year, when His Lameduckness is phoning it in.

Now come Trump and Musk to say that Christmas tree bills are not going to happen anymore. What then? How can Congress do nothing all year if it can't do everything at the buzzer? What if "regular order" actually becomes a thing? What irony if Musk and Trump saying to Congress "Do your damn job" turns out to be a good thing? The irony here as that I would want Congress to prevent Trump from fixing Congress because I don't want him to get credit for anything! But if he forces Congress to do its job, that will be a good thing, and proof that what this country needed was a kick in the butt, regardless of how awful the kicker. Those 1,400 pages cut from the original CR can't go away. Where will they go?