The Federal Government is Open. (Mostly)
I know we’re all thrilled that the federal government is now longer partially shut down, and that there are positive, hopeful signs than it might not shut down again on February 15. But there’s one office that’s not functioning, and might as well be closed.
Newly-elected U.S. Representative Lucy McBath (D-GA) has admitted in writing to a constituent that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. A constituent named “Michael” (no relation) apparently wrote a letter to the congresswoman. On January 23, Rep. McBath sent a response saying, in part, “We thank for your patience as we develop our mail system to send substantive responses.” The full letter was obtained by Insider Advantage and can be read here.
The letter closes with “For immediate assistance with federal agencies or with an ongoing case, please contact the Atlanta office of Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson…” and gives a phone number. Protip for Rep. McBath: when admitting to “non-substantive” incompetence, it’s best not to put it in writing, and referring your constituents to the hardest-working Senator in Georgia is just bad form.
Republicans have taken note. NRCC spokesperson Camille Gallo said “It looks like no one told Lucy McBath that her bosses are the people of Georgia. McBath should stop kissing up to radical Democrat leaders and actually do her job.” Well, she seems to think her job is fundraising and proposing anti-gun legislation, so maybe she should just keep doing nothing.
According to Insider Advantage, “McBath’s office refuses to comment on why some experienced staffers were not retained after she won the election, or why her present staffers are incapable of handling letters and coordinating with various federal agencies.”
There are lots of hard-working, experienced congressional staffers in Washington and Georgia who could help Rep. McBath set up a functioning and responsive office. Maybe she should call Johnny Isakson and ask for some help.
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Mike Hassinger
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Jeezus, we just culled out trolls from the comment section, now we gotta put up with them from the FPP’s.
3 weeks on the job. And she got a letter out. And reached across the aisle to help a constituent (presumably) get the info they need.
Didn’t ed get timed out for writing less lame stuff than this?
She got a letter out that did nothing but pass the buck… I could only imagine the skewering Handel would have gotten if constituents received the same message a day after she was sworn in. While she has been sworn in for three weeks she had months to plan. No excuse.
Ed got timed out because he was given information related to the post before it was published that contradicted information in the story.
It’s still lame.
As are most things in politics…
What’s the over/under on getting a response from any given Rep or Senator? I’ve heard lots of complaints about non-responsiveness, and read some posted here. But in this case, a non-response would at least avoid the political backlash. But more importantly, may the substantive response happen quickly.
Maybe she got distracted watching gop leadership delay naming reps to the Intelligence Committee.
I wrote Perdue, Isackson and Woodall several times in the run up to the vote to open the government. I never got any reply from Isackson. I heard from Perdue with what amounted to a campaign ad that in no way addressed my demand that he fulfill his responsibility to properly fund the government.. Woodall wrote a more tailored response to my request that he vote to open the government even though he voted to support keeping the government closed.
I frequently make my voice heard to politicians at all levels and have found varying degrees of responsiveness.
Totally agree. Although I usually get a thoughtful and relevant response from Isakson even if I disagree with him on an issue. Perdue, same irrelevant response to everything, unless of course your request has 6 zeros or more in it. I’ve always wondered how some officials, or their staff, manage to craft on topic replies while others completely ignore the subject of my correspondence?
Yeah, a recent response from Sen. Perdue included the line “Rest assured that your message is being reviewed by the appropriate member on my team.”
That makes me feel much better.
Update!
I got a follow up message from Sen. David Perdue. This one says (in part) ” I am supportive of President Trump’s efforts and request for additional funding to secure the border…. Whether it is a physical barrier on certain stretches of the border or funding for more manpower and technology, it is Congress’ job to protect our nation and its citizens.”
Hmmm…
I just got the same email. He’s embracing Trump, not moving to the middle. He owns all things Trump!
No, I think he is bailing on “a wall”. Sounds like he’s ready to negotiate.
Our eloquent Fascist-In_Chief begs to differ: “Lets just call them WALLS from now on and stop playing political games! A WALL is a WALL!” he tweeted.
Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts concerning the recent partial government shutdown and border security funding. I always appreciate the opportunity to hear from my fellow Georgians.
Kindest regards,
David Perdue
United States Senator
*radical Democratic leaders
She’s been there less than a month and has no prior experience in elective office. I know Republicans are desperate to dump on the lady that unseated Karen Handel, but I think the attack would be much much more credible if this was still happening in, let’s say, March.
And if Mike’s history here is any indication, there is zero chance he’d ever “skewer” Karen Handel.
Why would Mike have to do it? The AJC would have it top of the fold for days straight…
Fair point.
McBath’s “mistake” is providing a reason for the lack of responsiveness.
At 17, I spent an entire summer interning in a district office. My job included reading/listening to letters, emails, voicemails; determining which “issue” they dealt with; and plugging them into a database so someone in DC could send out whatever pre-written response they had to that particular issue. When I spent a summer in DC a year later, I got to be the guy hitting send on the pre-written response. While LAs and LDs kept track of how much correspondence was coming – and what the breakdown of support/oppose was – very few pieces of mail or emails actually made it to the Congressman. The reason this system exists is because no Congressional office has the ability to keep up with and personal respond to every piece of correspondence that comes in on a daily basis while also trying to do the substantive work of legislating.
My guess is that McBath and her staff haven’t crafted set answers to the number of “issues” constituents write in about. Instead of just letting the emails/letters pile up until those responses are finished, they’re sending out a reply that tries to direct folks in need of help to – quite frankly – one of the better run and more responsive staffs on the Hill.
This piece just feels intentionally under reported to me (yes, I know its a blog staffed by volunteers). I’m curious if Mike or anyone at Insider Advantage checked with Isakson’s people, to see if they gave a “thumbs up” to McBath’s line referring calls to the Atlanta office. My hunch is that they did.
Probably exactly on point that she was just trying to be helpful while they figure out the processes. So, is turning naïve rookie goodwill into a political jab just politics being politics, or is it a symptom of larger bipartisan dysfunction? Hint: It’s the latter. If it wasn’t, then instead of just complaining, there would be appurtenant helpfulness or notes of encouragement. And maybe Isaakson has been OK with an assist, which would be encouraging.
But if there was dysfunction in her district office in April, I would feel differently.
It’s also an argument as to why term limits are a bad idea. Can you imagine something like 1/3 of Congress being newbies every term? Chaos! The veteran lobbyists would be running things.
In a way, what is old is now new again. It’s been a while, but when my area was earlier part of the 4th Congressional District, letters to Cynthia McKinney’s office did not even merit a response letter.
Mine to Sen. Perdue didn’t get a reply the first 3 years he was in office. Now they are at about 3 months. Rep Carter is at 3 weeks, unless you agree with him, then it can be 10 days.
In otherwords, “I can’t do nothing fer you, please contact a republican for assistance.”
Or “Closed for Renovations; Please visit our sister store down the hall.”
“… but not, I repeat not, David Perdue. “
I write my rep and senators all the time and always get a form letter in response. This just looks like she’s apologizing for not providing an issue specific form response and maybe not yet having in place an automated routing process. Seems like a kind of pointless dig.
I think Hassinger wrote something other than a pointless dig once, but I can’t remember what it was.