Light Duty?

Could it be that House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., secretly wants a lame-duck session?

His staff counted up how long the House has been in session so far this year and all of last year. To that, they added the 17 legislative days scheduled through the Oct. 1 target adjournment. Grand total: a “shocking” (Hoyer’s word) 231.

If that holds, it will be the smallest number of workdays since the 84th Congress concluded its 230 session days in 1956, according to the book Vital Statistics on Congress.