WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 — President Bush lashed out at Congress today, the third time he has done so in two weeks, this time saying the House had wasted time on “a constant string of investigations” and the Senate had similarly wasted its efforts by trying to rein in the Iraq war. Its failure to send a single annual appropriations bill to his desk, he said, amounted to “the worst record for a Congress in 20 years.”

“Congress is not getting its work done,” the president said in brief remarks from the North Portico of the White House.

He urged Congress to act on defense-funding legislation and on a compromise on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or S-CHIP.

As he spoke, Mr. Bush was flanked by two senior Republicans, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, the minority leader, and Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the minority whip. The three had emerged from a meeting in the East Room of the House Republican Conference, and perhaps reflecting the campaign season under way, the president’s words took on a partisan edge.