Congress will be home for Christmas — if only in its dreams

It was early November when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declared the Senate would consider the Democrats’ social spending bill during the week of Nov. 15.

The best-laid plans…

Of course, Schumer’s aspiration came before everything went haywire in the House of Representatives a few weeks ago. The House struggled to even approve the infrastructure bill. House Democrats finally had to decouple a vote on the infrastructure bill with the social spending bill just to muscle the former through. That came despite demands from House liberals that the Democratic leadership Velcro the respective measures together.

House moderates were then willing to vote on the social spending package — provided they had cost evaluations of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). They also wanted the bill to appear in the House the week of Nov. 15.

So, Schumer had little choice but to punt.

Schumer had an ominous warning. He notified senators earlier this week that they should “keep your schedule flexible for the remainder of the calendar year.” He added that dealing with the social spending package — to say nothing of averting a government shutdown and avoiding a collision with the debt limit in December — “will likely take some long nights and weekends.”

On Tuesday, Schumer brought the holiday season calendar more closely into focus with regard to the social spending package.

“We aim to pass it before Christmas,” he said.

“Before” is the key phrase there.

HOUSE DEMS CLAIM GOP IS ‘TOO DANGEROUS’ TO RUN CONGRESS IN LATEST MIDTERM PITCH AS POLL NUMBERS PLUNGE

But, just how much “before?”

The “Christmas recess” for Congress used to be sacrosanct. Now the body regularly incinerates the holiday break.

Congress blows through deadlines and weekends all the time. The House and Senate publish a congressional calendar each December that projects the schedule for the upcoming year. Weeks and weeks are often blocked out for…