Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Lawmakers return to town this week with a full plate — but little appetite for substantive legislation.
Why it matters: No one expects a very productive lame duck session with Republicans in position for a trifecta next year.
- But the environmental permitting fight isn't going away — whether or not the Manchin-Barrasso bill gets done.
Let's look at what's on the table …
Permitting pessimism: Sources we spoke to were generally pessimistic about the chances of Manchin-Barrasso hitching a ride on year-end legislation.
- Republicans will want to use their majorities for deeper overhauls of environmental laws. And opposition to the bill's transmission provisions from rural electric co-ops could prompt fresh objections from the House GOP.
- But one Senate Republican aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said Energy and Natural Resources still wants to get the bill done in lame duck, given that the GOP majority won't be filibuster-proof next year.
- It's also worth noting that ENR plans to hold a markup next week, postponed from before the election, signaling the committee's intent to keep pushing legislation before the end of the year.
Billions and billions of dollars: Government spending — whether an omnibus or another CR — remains an important legislative vehicle.
- Lawmakers are talking about kicking the deadline into March with another stopgap, the Washington Post reported. And House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is suggesting a push to continue funding through September, as our colleagues at the new Axios Hill Leaders newsletter reported.
- Don't rule out a December surprise. The 2020 omnibus right before President Biden came into office carried the Energy Act and a landmark phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons.
Playing defense: The Senate brought a bunch of energy-related priorities into negotiations with the House on the defense bill over recess.
- The Senate manager's package of amendments includes the Good Samaritan mining bill, Sen. Joe Manchin's International Nuclear Energy Act and Environment and Public Works' legislation to reauthorize the Economic Development Administration for the first time in 20 years.
- Those now stand a real chance of passing with the NDAA but will have to reckon with any opposition from House committees of jurisdiction.
Farm bill extension-plus: Negotiations on a full five-year farm bill have yet to produce major progress.
- Talk has shifted in recent months to the possibility of a second yearlong extension of the current 2018 farm bill, while trying to get farmers additional relief in appropriations bills or disaster relief legislation. The arrangement is being discussed as a farm bill "extension-plus."
Biofuels bargaining: Midwest lawmakers are pressing to extend IRA tax credits for biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel as the Treasury Department works on guidance for 45Z, a credit scheduled to subsume biofuels credits in January.
AM radio in high gear: Legislation that would mandate EV makers install AM radios has garnered wide bipartisan support, and there appear to be no hurdles that could derail that.
