By John Hart, Open the Books CEO | Published at Open the Books Substack

The federal government seems to be headed for a shutdown after Congress failed to pass a stop-gap funding bill that includes “emergency” items like a pay raise for itself. We’ll no doubt learn more about what was slipped into the bill in coming days. But what is even more scandalous than the product is the process.

Dropping a 1,500-page bill on a legislator’s desk and demanding they pass it without having time to review it projects weakness and corruption to both American taxpayers and our adversaries. The process is particularly insulting to disaster victims in North Carolina who are going to find assistance delayed even further due to Congress’ inability to set priorities and make hard decisions.

The absurdity of today’s process is not normal. People like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are right to call out the madness of the modern Congress.

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