On the January 8 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show, host “Gunny” Bob Newman falsely accused Democratic leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives of reneging on promises to “work harder” than the last Congress, which was Republican-controlled. Newman falsely claimed that the House Democratic leadership, less than a week after taking charge, “arranged a four-day workweek” and scheduled “an additional 47 vacation days between now and August 31st,” amounting to “more days off than they are working.” But Newman neglected to note that last year the House, under Republican leadership, typically was in session only three days a week and scheduled nearly twice as many so-called “vacation days.” Moreover, the last Congress worked the fewest days of any Congress in history.

During a rant about purported “broken promises” by the new Democratic majority, Newman asserted that House members “just got sworn in last week, and [Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi has already broken her promise, refusing to institute a five-day workweek in the House as promised.” He continued:

They just arranged a four-day workweek. They took today [January 8] off to watch college football, and have now released their extremely generous vacation schedule that includes, in addition to Fridays and weekends off, 47 vacation days between now and the end of August.

As reported in a December 6 Washington Post article, shortly after he was voted in as House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that the House would be in session five days a week, a change from the previous year, when “the legislative week started late Tuesday and ended by Thursday afternoon.” The Post also noted that the previous, Republican-controlled Congress held session “seven days fewer than the infamous 'Do-Nothing Congress' of 1948.”

While it is true that the House was not in session on January 8 because some members -- Democrat and Republican alike -- wanted to “watch college football," Newman's broader assertion regarding the new congressional workweek is incorrect. Neither Hoyer nor any other Democratic leader has since announced a four-day workweek.

Furthermore, the 2007 House Schedule lists 47 days not in session from January 4 through August 31, four of which are federal holidays -- Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 15), Presidents Day (February 19), Memorial Day (May 28), and Independence Day (July 4) -- and 43 of which are included in “District Work Periods.” Contrary to Newman's assertion that House leaders scheduled “more days off than they are working,” the current Congress is scheduled to be in session January 4 through August 31 for 124 days, and out of session for 116 days. Last year, during the same period, the Republican-led House scheduled 163 days out of session, more than twice as many days as scheduled in session, 77. Of the 163 days scheduled out of session in 2006, 91 were what Newman would classify as “vacation days.”*

Later in the broadcast, Newman further defined what he meant by a four-day week, claiming that Democratic leaders set the House schedule so that “everyone has to be at work by 6:30 Monday evening, for whatever they're going to do -- I don't know what they're going to do -- and they're going to be off work by 2 p.m. Friday afternoon. Crunch ... the hours. That's less than a four-day workweek.” But, in fact, the House resolved on January 4 that the workweek will begin at 2 p.m. on Mondays before May 14, and at noon on Mondays after that date. The resolution does not specify the adjournment time for any day of the week, although the Washington Post reported that Hoyer said Friday sessions would end “about 2 p.m.” On January 4, House members were in session more than nine hours, and on January 9, they were in session more than 12 hours.

When a caller challenged Newman's mischaracterization of the new Congressional workweek, noting “the Republicans were far worse, and I don't recall your indignation,” Newman responded, “I don't remember the Republicans taking more days -- I don't recall the Republicans making promises to work harder. I'm talking about what the Democrats promised. They promised to work harder and they lied.”

From the January 8 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:

NEWMAN: Oh, and the liberals said they would work harder too. Working more days and getting more done. They just got sworn in last week, and Pelosi has already broken her promise, refusing to institute a five-day workweek in the House as promised. They just arranged a four-day workweek. They took today off to watch college football, and have now released their extremely generous vacation schedule that includes, in addition to Fridays and weekends off, 47 vacation days between now and the end of August. My God. Which leads to today's poll question: Did you believe the liberals when they said they would work harder than conservatives? Go to the Gunny Bob pages on 850KOA.com to vote. I mean, they're off more days than they'll be working. I want that job. 303-713-8585. This is the -- there were a lot of suckers out there. I certainly hope you were not one of them.

[...]

CALLER: 47 days off?

NEWMAN: 47 days -- vacation days between now -- and that's just the end of August. They've got four months after that.

CALLER: I gotta get me a job like that, Gunny, and if I --

NEWMAN: We need one. You and I deserve a job like that, [Caller]. We deserve a four-day workweek. Uh, you know, they promised they'd do a five-day workweek. They said, “Oh, let's scrap that promise. Let's just -- uh, everyone has to be at work by 6:30 Monday evening, for whatever they're going to do -- I don't know what they're going to do -- and they're going to be off work by 2 p.m. Friday afternoon. Crunch the -- crunch the hours. That's less than a four-day workweek.

[...]

NEWMAN: The Democrats, in charge of our Congress now, you know. Well, in the -- on the House side, you remember how Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the gang were saying, ”We are going to have a much more vigorous work ethic. We're gonna work a five-day workweek, and, by God, we're gonna get in and we're gonna really do a lot of the people's work." Well, they went to a four-day workweek. They have scheduled 47 vacation days between now and the end of August. Come on.

[...]

CALLER: Thanks for taking my call -- one more point. You know, you're talking about, you know, the work ethic of this upcoming Congress, and I say we should give them a break. But, jeez, look at what we just got done with. You know, those guys barely worked a, a hundred days the last year, and that was with, you know, the Republicans in charge. So --

NEWMAN: And that's -- that's another reason why I do not belong, and have never belonged, to a political party.

CALLER: Yeah. Well, I'm --

NEWMAN: And I won't do it. I mean, when I saw these -- you know, when somebody comes out during an election year and says -- and promises, you know, we're going to be, you know, the Congress that works hard. We're going to have a harder -- a more serious work ethic, and one of the first things, one of their first orders of business is, is to make sure that they get an additional 47 vacation days between now and August 31st. [Caller], are you going to get days like that?

CALLER: Oh, you know nobody does, unless --

NEWMAN: They do.

CALLER: Well, they do. But I guess I was listening to you chuckle about the Democrats; it was like look, you know, the Republicans were far worse, and I don't recall your indignation --

NEWMAN: I don't remember the Republicans taking more days -- I don't recall the Republicans making promises to work harder. I'm talking about what the Democrats promised.

CALLER: Well, you know --

NEWMAN: They promised to work harder, and they lied.

CALLER: Well, promises and deeds are one thing. I mean, look --

NEWMAN: That's right.

CALLER: These guys -- these guys over the last year only worked a hundred days. And, I mean, that's pathetic.

NEWMAN: It is pathetic.

CALLER: All right. So, like I said, I don't recall your indignation about those guys. I mean, look, they've barely been in power. I say, hey, give them a chance. Now, we need something better and, you know, a lot people voted them in; I say let's see what happens. And if they don't, we'll vote 'em out again.

NEWMAN: I -- I certainly hope so, because when I -- when you are in power less than a week and you go back on major promises like more work days, better ethics, support for our military, um, you know, you go back on some of your major campaign promises inside of a week of being in power, imagine all the things -- if this is an indication of a trend -- imagine all the things they're going to go back on over the next two years. Thank you, [Caller]. 303-713-8585. I don't recall the Republicans -- and I'm not a Republican, I'm not a Democrat -- I don't recall the Republicans coming in there saying, “We're going to be the party that works harder with more days in Congress.” I don't recall that. But this was -- this was one of the big, uh, planks when it, when it came to the Democrats in this last election year. “We're gonna work harder. You know, we're gonna go for that full five-day workweek.” And one of the first things they do is arrange for -- for so many -- for more days off -- total -- more days off than they are working.

* From January 4, 2006, through August 31, 2006, six days out of session were designated as Democratic and Republican retreats (three days each: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday), and are not included as “vacation days.”