Politics & Power Quote by Chris Van Hollen

Van Hollen’s sentence is a to-do list that doubles as an indictment. On the surface, it’s housekeeping: a reminder that the calendar is running out on “this Congress.” Underneath, it’s a strategic contrast between what legislators could be doing and what they’re implied to be doing instead. The phrase “as we get closer to the end” is less a scheduling note than a subtle accusation of drift, suggesting a body distracted by partisan theater, scandals, or donor-driven priorities while the public’s problems pile up.

The craft is in the bundling. He stacks Iraq, health care, energy, education, retirement, and fiscal policy into one breathless chain, creating a sense of comprehensive neglect. Each item is framed not as a partisan demand but as an “urgent need,” language that borrows the moral authority of triage. Even the adjectives are calibrated to sound non-ideological: “affordable,” “sensible,” “quality,” “sound and fair.” That’s centrist diction designed to make opposition look unreasonable, or at least unserious.

Context matters: a late-session Congress is when leadership tries to sprint through must-pass bills, message votes, and positioning for the next election. Van Hollen, a Democratic leader during the Bush-era Iraq debate and intensifying health-care and budget fights, is signaling priorities while also laying down a campaign narrative: if voters feel squeezed, it’s because Washington chose spectacle over substance. The subtext is clear: competence is a choice, and so is neglect.