Congress

Senators Used to Barely Be in Washington. Now They’re Coping With Never Leaving.

Senators are getting tired of being in Washington week after week, though no one really wants to admit it.

John Thune

Sen. John Thune waits for the Senate Finance Committee to hold a roll call vote approving the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

By Ben T.N. Mause and Riley Rogerson

February 24, 2025 05:00 AM

When the U.S. Senate suddenly breaks through a scheduling problem so that lawmakers can leave town on a Thursday, the usual joke is that senators could “smell the jet fumes.”

For years, 2:00 p.m. on Thursday seemed to be a hard deadline in the Senate, facilitating time agreements and legislative deals that would allow senators to get off C-SPAN 2 and get onto an airplane.

The phenomenon was so common that it became more of an accepted explanation than a joke.