After Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) accused Majority Leader Harry Reid of grinchery for suggesting that the Senate work the week after Christmas, Reid blamed Kyl’s party for the delay that may push votes past the holiday.
“As a Christian, no one has to remind me of the importance of Christmas for all of the Christian faith, for all their families, all across America,” he said. “I don’t need to hear the sanctimonious lectures of Sen. Kyl and [Sen. Jim] DeMint to remind me of what Christmas means.”
“Where were their concerns about Christmas [when they were posing] filibuster after filibuster of every piece of legislation during this entire Congress?” Reid asked on the Senate floor this afternoon.
Yesterday, Reid threatened to call the Senate back after Christmas to finish up the busy lame duck agenda before the Congress ends Jan. 4. Republicans — who, it seems, would prefer Congress leave without passing the START treaty, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal, spending bills and other legislation — balked, with Kyl saying Reid was “disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians.”
DeMint (R-SC), on the other hand, said today that it would be “sacrilegious” for the Senate to hold a vote on the START treaty in the days just before Christmas.
“You can’t jam a major arms control treaty right before Christmas,” he told Politico. “What’s going on here is just wrong. This is the most sacred holiday for Christians.”
For what it’s worth, Easter is the most sacred holiday on the Christian calendar.
Late update: Reid’s folks have posted the video online. Watch: