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The artificially chilled halls of the U.S. Capitol this week are a sort of an out-of-body experience.

Thoughts of the month-long August break from Washington permeate nearly every encounter and phone call.

It is as if lawmakers have been strapped to their desks for months.

But a CNN analysis shows Congress has spent less time on Capitol Hill so far this year than in any of the previous five years.

House members have been in Washington for 56% of all non-holiday weekdays -- essentially, fewer than three days a week. Senators have walked into the Capitol for 61% of weekdays.

The weeks are not just shorter, but consistently so. The Senate did not have a single five-day work week in Washington for the first seven months of the year. The House had two.

CNN counted days that lawmakers were in Washington excluding "pro-forma" sessions, which are technically considered work days but last only a few minutes and are usually ignored by members.

The number of congressional work days now is significantly less than the high point of 2009. That's when the Senate met for 113 days before the August recess, which is 24 days more than the same period this year.

The House met for 19 more days in 2009 compared to this year. More at http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/01/politics/congress-work-time/index.html?h
pt=hp_t1]

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