A spokeswoman for Hoyer, who drafts the calendar, said Democrats weren’t planning a leisurely pace next year. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Congress scuttles longer workweek

Having made a five-day congressional workweek de rigueur for much of the year, House Democrats are planning an easier schedule for next year.

A 2008 calendar distributed to congressional offices Monday shows the House holding five-day weeks only three times next year, exposing Democrats to charges that they are backing away from a pledge to work harder than Republicans did when they ruled the House.


“You have to hand it to Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats for … rewarding themselves with another broken promise,” said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “With a record low approval rating, … you would think they would start getting to work instead of planning extra vacation days.”

Still, the schedule, while lighter than this year’s, is more rigorous than ones in Republican years. Republicans typically held a three-day week, from Tuesday night to Thursday afternoon, allowing lawmakers Mondays and Fridays in their districts.

When Democrats took over this year, they demanded more time in Washington.

“Most weeks, not every week, but most weeks, yes, we will be working Monday, we will come in Monday at 6:30 [p.m.], and be working on Friday, as we used to do, until about 2 in the afternoon, to give people time so they can get home,” House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters last December.

Hoyer delivered on that promise. This year’s legislative calendar shows 16 weeks in which the House was set to work a five-day week, although the actual number may differ due to subsequent schedule changes.

Next year’s planned schedule falls in between the past two years in terms of legislative activity. It shows the House holding four-day weeks most of the time, arriving on Monday night and leaving Thursday, or arriving Tuesday night and leaving Friday.

A spokeswoman for Hoyer, who drafts the calendar, said Democrats weren’t planning a leisurely pace next year.

“We have already made significant progress for the American people this session, and the bottom line is we will be in Washington as many days as needed next year to complete the people’s business,” said the spokeswoman, Stacey Bernards.

Bernards noted that Republicans had presided over the lightest congressional schedules in recent years.

“As is so often the case, Republican criticism has no credibility. The last Republican Congress was in session significantly less than this Democratic Congress has been and will be,” she said.

In the proposed 2008 schedule, the House will meet 248 days in the 110th Congress, compared with 211 days in the last Republican-led Congress, according to figures maintained by the majority leader’s office.

President Bush would deliver his last State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Jan. 22. And the targeted adjournment date is Sept. 26.

For Democrats, it was nearly inevitable that they would back off this year’s hectic pace. Many lawmakers had complained that the weeks were too full, allowing them little time at home to meet with constituents. Freshman Democrats, in particular, eager to solidify their hold on their districts, have called for more time to campaign.

“You come in late on Friday. It’s hard to do anything on Sunday, so you really just have one day: Saturday,” freshman Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.) told Politico in October. “I haven’t complained about it, but I understand those who have.”

Republicans, too, protested the longer weeks.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) told The Washington Post in January: “Keeping us up here eats away at families. … Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families — that’s what this says.”

Already, though, Hoyer has taken some steps to back off the demanding schedule. The House did not meet on Fridays in October, a concession to Washington-weary lawmakers.

Congress typically works fewer days in election years to allow time for campaigning, and it appears the new Democratic regime will offer a similar reprieve.

“We will be in less than this year, as is always the case for an election year and was also always anticipated,” Bernards said.