Lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to excel at disappointing the American people.

Congress wrapped things up and left D.C. for the holiday recess this week — and by “wrapped things up” we mean blew town without reaching a deal on the Obamacare subsidies which expire on Jan. 1. While they kick back and enjoy festivities with their families, millions of their constituents will be white-knuckling it, wondering just what they will do for health coverage in the new year.

Will they get a reprieve? Will they have to drop coverage all together? Or will rising costs lay waste to already strained budgets?

“Here we are without a deal enacted, with the subsidies about to expire. I think it’s totally unacceptable. It’s a failure of leadership, honestly, on both sides,” GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley of California told CNN.

It is totally unacceptable, yet they did it anyway.

The undercurrent to the Obamacare subsidies battle has been “it’s the other side’s fault.” We saw how that led to a government shutdown earlier this fall, and yet lawmakers are seemingly content to kick the can down the road until January, after they’ve tucked into a nice Christmas dinner and had a chance to unwind.

It’s not just unacceptable, it’s unconscionable, and a blatant display of disregard for voters.

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended his decision not to delay recess and vote on the extension of the enhanced ACA subsidies rather than dealing with the issue when they return next month.

“The only way to do that is to go through the rules process and fast forward it. Everybody knows those rules. Everybody knew it all along, and they made the decisions that they made,” he said, rolling his eyes when asked about canceling recess, CNN reported.

If only a pedantic stance could ease Americans’ fears that health care coverage will be out of reach for them in 2026.

Johnson is on a roll, and not in a good way. He and House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) briefed a group of GOP members about a proposal that would ban members from buying individual stocks but allow them to hold the ones they already own, three people granted anonymity to discuss private conversations told Politico. The proposal could also crack down on members of Congress participating in insider trading.

Johnson’s move comes as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and a group of Republicans have been pushing to force a vote on a bipartisan consensus bill to ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks — but some Republicans are opposed to that legislation, saying it’s too restrictive.

The problem on the Hill isn’t that lawmakers have too few chances to get rich.

House Democrats want a broader stock-trading bill that would include the executive branch.

“Anything short of an actual ban on members owning and trading stocks won’t solve the problem, and won’t be enough for a public that expects a full ban, and so I’m hopeful that the speaker will bring a strong bill to the floor,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.)

The public expects a full ban, and it also expects D.C. lawmakers to work on its behalf — even if they have to toil through a holiday recess.

Here’s a New Year’s resolution for Capitol Hill: Do better.

Editorial cartoon by Al Goodwyn (Creators Syndicate)