Congress leaves Washington with much undone

WASHINGTON -- The most partisan, least productive Congress in memory has departed Washington so lawmakers can make their case for voters to re-elect them.

The Senate closed the Capitol not long after sending President Barack Obama a spending bill that will make sure the government won't shut down Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year. The measure passed early Saturday by a 62-30 vote.

Left behind for a postelection session is a pile of unfinished business on the budget and taxes, farm policy and legislation to save the Postal Service from insolvency.

The GOP-controlled House beat its retreat Friday morning after passing a bill called the "Stop the War on Coal Act." The measure, dead on arrival in the Senate, was aimed at boosting the coal industry in its fight against new environmental regulations while hurting Obama's political prospects in coal states such as Ohio and Virginia.

The Democratic-controlled Senate's middle-of-the-night session came after a spitting match between Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Republicans over Reid's insistence on advancing legislation by Sen. Jon Tester of Montana to boost access to public lands for hunting and fishing.

Tester is perhaps the Senate's most endangered Democrat, and Republicans protested that he was being given special treatment in a clearly political move to boost his re-election chances. The measure cleared a procedural hurdle by an 84-7 vote.

The only must-do item on agenda was a six-month spending measure to fulfill the bare minimum of Congress' responsibilities by keeping the government running after the current budget year ends on Sept. 30. The measure permits spending on agency operating budgets at levels agreed to under last summer's hard-fought budget and debt deal between Obama and Capitol Hill Republicans.

It's the earliest pre-election exit by Congress from Washington since 1960, though lawmakers will return after the Nov. 6 vote to deal with unfinished work.

The approval rating for the current Congress dropped to 13 percent in a Gallup poll this month. That was the lowest ever for an election year.