Senate’s post-election drama escalates quickly
Congress’ lame-duck session starts with a bang on Monday, as Senate Republicans debate their future after last week’s shellacking and Democrats face their first vote on a permitting reform bill that is cleaving them.
Key points
- Meanwhile, the Senate will take a procedural vote on the permitting reform bill this evening, and it’s looking likely to advance despite opposition from some environmental groups.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s day in the spotlight will come, but not for a few weeks: Democratic leadership elections will happen in early December.
- Barring a delay, Senate Republican leadership elections are scheduled to take place at 9 am on Tuesday; in 2022, Republicans squashed a similar delay tactic.
That won’t delay Majority Leader John Thune’s leadership election, nor will it block Thune’s bid to helm the conference in the minority, but it will force a debate about party leadership — and there may eventually be a vote on whether to delay the leadership election.
Additional details
- The bill will take probably a couple weeks to pass in the Senate if it advances.
- Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., are both publicly pushing to pass the bill in the lame duck, and Democrats often trust their ranking members to cut a good deal.
- Democrats are seeking more changes to the bill, but many in the party think it’s the right time to move permitting legislation that has now stalled for multiple Congresses.
- Mike Lee, say they need a plan on how the lame duck will play out before deciding on their leadership votes.
- Rick Scott, R-Fla., who has run twice for leader, wants a commitment to pass the GOP’s voter ID legislation.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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