‘Complete waste’: Fights and frustration mark House’s first full week back after record shutdown

House lawmakers spent their first full week in Washington after the 43-day government shutdown fighting not just with the opposing party but also within their own ranks.

The week included attempts to formally reprimand three members, two of whom were the subject of intraparty complaints, and a Republican-led resolution denouncing socialism that fractured Democrats.

Democrats and Republicans alike bemoaned the political and personal distractions from what should have been a week to get back to legislating after an absence of nearly two months.

“We didn’t talk about any of the things that matter to people at home,” Rep. Bradley Schneider, Illinois Democrat, told The Washington Times. “We had grandstanding and showboating and a whole lot of partisan nonsense.”

Rep. Ben Cline, Virginia Republican, said the House was taking “a little time to hit our stride.”

“We’ve got some important things we need to work on, and so those conversations are being had,” he said. “I think when we get back from Thanksgiving, we’ll be running more smoothly.”

The House voted Sept. 19 to pass a stopgap bill to fund the government and did not return to Washington until Nov. 12 to pass a Senate-amended version that ended the record-breaking shutdown.

The House didn’t stick around after reopening the government, so it was lawmakers’ first full week back in Washington.

Rep. Joseph Morelle, New York Democrat, called it a “complete waste of a week.” He said the chamber accomplished so little legislatively that it was as if they hadn’t even returned.

“I don’t understand the Republicans,” he said. “America has a lot of challenges. We have so many different things we should be focused on, and we’re not doing any of it.”

House Republican leaders added Friday as a session day to try to make up for time lost during the shutdown, but the only vote scheduled was a nonbinding resolution to denounce socialism.

“I’d like to get back to serious work instead of messaging bills like this one or censure,” Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas Republican, told The Times.

Mr. McCaul has served in the House for two decades and has witnessed the decline of the institution’s and lawmakers’ relationships over the years.

“It’s a lack of maturity and serious lawmakers that want to get good things done for the country rather than just placating their own news outlets or YouTube or social media,” he said. “It has really kind of destroyed a lot of the fabric of the House.”

Mr. McCaul said some of the antics of the week might have been related to pent-up frustrations from the shutdown absence, but others were just responses to “the misbehavior of members of Congress.”

The House voted on disciplinary resolutions against three lawmakers. A fourth may come to the floor soon.

The first was a resolution of disapproval Tuesday, admonishing Rep. Jesus Garcia, Illinois Democrat, for “undermining the process of a free and fair election.” It was adopted 236-183, the only successful disciplinary measure of the week.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Washington Democrat, filed the resolution rebuking Mr. Garcia. Fellow party members accused her of “hubris” and engaging in a “cheap political stunt.”

She said Mr. Garcia had handpicked his chief of staff to succeed him next year and waited to announce his plan to retire until after the state’s election filing deadline, so there would be no competition. Mr. Garcia, 69, had planned to seek a fifth term but decided against it because of health and family issues. He said he followed Illinois rules and election law.

In the vote, 22 Democrats joined all Republicans in favor.

Later Tuesday, Democrats stood united against a Republican-led effort to censure Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands for “inappropriate coordination with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing” in 2019. The 209-214 vote failed, with three Republicans joining in opposition and another three Republicans voting “present.”

Several Republicans said the measure failed only because Democrats had threatened to force a vote on censuring Rep. Cory Mills, Florida Republican, in retaliation.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican, delivered floor remarks accusing the leadership of both parties of “cutting back-end deals to cover up public corruption.”

On Wednesday, Ms. Luna supported a resolution filed by fellow Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina to censure Mr. Mills.

Mr. Mills moved to refer the measure to the Ethics Committee. He promised to cooperate with the panel and present evidence disproving allegations of stolen valor, violation of campaign finance and financial disclosure laws, and assault and harassment of romantic partners.

The House voted 310-103 to allow Mr. Mills to defend himself before the ethics panel, but eight Republicans and 95 Democrats voted in opposition and to proceed with censure.

Democrats said Ms. Mace and Rep. Ralph Norman, South Carolina Republican, who led the censure resolution against Ms. Plaskett, were trying to score political points as they run against each other for governor.

On Thursday, the House took a break from the disciplinary votes after Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, temporarily backed off a threat to punish Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat who was indicted on charges of defrauding the government of $5 million in disaster assistance and using the money for her election to Congress.

Mr. Steube initially said he wanted to censure Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick but quickly changed his mind and said she should be expelled. He had planned to force a vote but decided to wait until the Ethics Committee finished its investigation.

Thursday wasn’t a typical day in the House. A subway car that transports lawmakers from the Rayburn House Office Building to the Capitol caught fire, a metaphor for the chaos of the week.

The debate on the anti-socialism resolution grew so heated Friday that a lawmaker asked that another’s words be stricken from the record.

Rep. Maria Salazar, Florida Republican and lead sponsor of the resolution, criticized Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who was leading debate for the Democrats, for traveling to Cuba “dozens of times to visit Fidel Castro personally, whom you consider your friend.”

Ms. Waters moved to “take her words down” because they amounted to a personal attack, which is against House rules. After some discussion, Ms. Salazar complied and withdrew her comments; however, she later posted the video to social media.

Asked about the chaotic week, Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee Republican, said the House is a reflection of the country.

“It is a broken country, and we need real revival,” he said.

Through the fighting, lawmakers united for some significant bipartisan votes.

The House voted 427-1 to pass a bill requiring the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. It unanimously passed legislation to repeal a provision that would have allowed Republican senators whose phone records were subpoenaed in the Biden-era Arctic Frost investigation to sue the government for damages.

Other bills passed with smaller margins, including legislation to lift restrictions on the import and export of natural gas and measures to combat crime in the District of Columbia.

Rep. Shomari C. Figures, Alabama Democrat, was willing to look past some of the chaos of the week and take “solace” in unifying moments, such as one he led to honor World War II veteran George E. Hardy, the last surviving combat pilot of the Tuskegee Airmen, who died during the prolonged House break.

He also pointed to the silver lining of the end of the shutdown, saying, “It’s good to see the workers back, and seeing our staff back and knowing that federal employees are being paid.”