• Pushing hard to wrap up business before they took their customary August break, lawmakers devoted a good deal of time to deciding what to do about the Iraq war and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Democrats touted their legislative victories (wiretapping, ethics rules, raising federal minimum wages and implementing 9/11 commission recommendations) while Republicans questioned their accomplishments, calling the Democratic-majority Congress “a post office Congress,” indicating that it did little more than rename post offices. Before the Senate closed up shop, lawmakers introduced 50 new bills in one day, bringing the year’s total to 1,984. In two days, 114 new bills hit the table in the House, bringing the yearly total so far to 3,469.
• Appropriations for various government agencies were still pending for Fiscal Year 2008, which begins October 1. The House has passed most of its bills, but the Senate has approved only one. President Bush threatened to veto nine of the 12 bills if they exceed the spending outlays proposed in his budget.
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