The Senate returned from the Thanksgiving break Monday afternoon to start work right away on the pile of things they’ve got to accomplish by the end of the year. Republicans started their week by embarking on the chaos they intend wreak to prevent that work. They are going to make the next month hell because that’s what they do. It’s the annual Republican War on Christmas. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer decided to start with the one thing that should be easy: defense spending, the bill that never fails to pass easily and which the House already padded with $24 billion more than the Pentagon even asked for from Congress. Schumer wanted to jump right on it and get it out of the way. So the minute they got back Monday, he put up a cloture vote so the process of getting it out of the way could begin. Sen. Mitch McConnell doesn’t want to do that, so every Republican except Sen. Susan Collins blocked the bill from moving forward, voting against the cloture motion to start legislative work on it. McConnell said he wanted to spend more time on it. What McConnell wanted to do was continue to screw Schumer, because time is one thing the Senate—the whole Congress—doesn’t have right now. Government funding expires on Dec. 3. This Friday. The debt ceiling will be hit in the days following Dec. 15, according to the Treasury. That’s just the top two things that have to be dealt with this week and next. Read more