Weigel

The Invisible House GOP Agenda

Seventy-two hours ago, a reasonable person would have said that the return of Congress was going to mean a return to the debate over Paul Ryan’s budget. John McCormack’s reporting suggested that the recess had gone rather well for Ryan , despite a few moments of tension. The congressman was not humbled when he hit the Sunday shows. Everything was ready to go.

And then came the killing of Osama bin Laden, and everything else is off the map for now. Among the things happening in Congress this week that are totally obscured by the OBL aftermath are a vote on the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which made it out of Rules yesterday; a vote on the “Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act,” the latest Republican attempt to open more drilling against the gripes of the Obama administration; and oversight of the Justice Department. That and the coming GOP presidential debate are subsumed. The debate is happening the same day as a memorial service in Nw York City, which puts a damper on the ability of Gary Johnson, Tim Pawlenty, and Ron Paul to get some buzz out of the day.