The average person would be fired for continually failing to show up for work. U.S. Senators, on the other hand, are free to skip work and collect full pay and benefits, and many are doing just that.
Records for the past few months show that all Democrat Senators who are running for the presidency have missed a considerable amount of work since they began their campaigns; what’s more, they don’t seem to plan on going back to work anytime in the foreseeable future.
Sen. Bernie Sanders hasn’t bothered to show up to vote in the Senate since July 2019, and had no other answer to give for his absenteeism except that “he’s running for president.” While he may win the prize for most absent senator, there are plenty of others who come close to his abysmal absentee record.
Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Kamala Harris have each missed a whopping 200 votes each; both senators have, up to this day, been absent at the Senate more often than being present. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is likewise extremely engrossed in her presidential campaign, missing about 44% of all Senate votes this year. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet have been more engaged in their day job than many of their colleagues. Even so, both senators missed about 30% of all Senate votes.
Naturally, there are plenty of excuses why Democrat politicians can’t be expected to actually show up for work. Some would note that President Donald Trump spends a great deal of time campaigning even though he has an important job to do. While it’s true the President is extremely engrossed in his re-election, the fact remains that he can delegate many of his duties to the Vice-President, cabinet members, and staff members. Senators can’t; no-one can show up to debate and vote in their stead.
Some, such as Senator Warren, would argue that their vote makes no difference in some instances, as the GOP has a majority in that chamber of Congress. While this is true, the fact remains that United States taxpayers are shelling out $174,000 every year to pay Senators for their representation. A senator may not be able to change the outcome of a vote, but he or she has a duty to show up to work. A senator who doesn’t think this job is important should resign to allow someone else to represent the state in an appropriate manner. Former Senator Bob Dole did this in the 1990s when he ran for the presidency.
Given the fact that there is so much currently happening in Washington, it’s easy to discount the fact that Democrat senators are failing to show up for work. The mainstream news media is making it easy to miss the absenteeism by failing to report it with the same fanfare used when Republican Senator Marco Rubio missed numerous Senate votes when running for his party’s presidential nomination. Even so, the fact remains that Democrat Senators who think it’s fine to skip their jobs in order to try to take on a larger, more important job have no business being trusted with more responsibility.
