WASHINGTON — The tempestuous 113th Congress has limped out of Washington for the last time, capping two years of modest and infrequent legislating that was overshadowed by partisan clashes, gridlock and investigations.
"Thank God it's over," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said as he left the Capitol late Tuesday.
How's this for a legacy? More than 200 bills became law during the past two years, according to congressional data. That was the fewest since at least 1947 and 1948, when what President Harry Truman dubbed "the do-nothing Congress" enacted over 900 laws.
This Congress did less than the do-nothing one.
Each party accused the other of scuttling bills for political purposes ahead of November's midterm elections, which gave Republicans firm House and Senate control next year.
"How many times did we have the point of the week?" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said about Democratic tactics Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "It was designed to make us walk the plank. It had nothing to do with getting a legislative outcome."
No. 2 Senate Democratic Leader Richard Durbin of Illinois blamed the GOP.
"We have a president who was facing a headwind, Republicans opposing him in Congress and a decline in popularity," Durbin said. "Republicans saw no reason to give us any legislative help."