GOP loads up lame-duck agenda as House control teeters

Republican lawmakers are packing their agenda for the lame-duck session after the Nov. 6 elections, recognizing it could be their last shot for at least two years to pass legislation under unified GOP control of Congress.

Their top priorities include spending legislation, the farm bill, a package to extend expiring tax breaks, criminal justice reform, reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and passing the Jobs Act 3.0, which is intended to spur capital formation.

{mosads}Also high on the to-do list is a batch of executive and judicial branch nominees — including 36 federal District Court and three circuit court judges. 

Asked about the agenda for December, Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (Texas) said, “Nominations, more nominations.”

Many of the legislative items on the GOP agenda could be weighed down or even pushed aside by a partisan brawl over President Trump’s demand that Congress fund construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“There’s going to be a major fight over that and that’s going to make progress on other areas difficult,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday opened the door to a possible deal by saying Democrats are not opposed to strengthening the U.S. border.

“We Democrats believe in strong border security,” he said, noting that the Senate immigration reform bill backed by Democrats in 2013 included billions of dollars in border security funding. “We’re going to keep fighting for the strongest, toughest border security.”

Cole later said Schumer’s remarks could pave the way for a compromise linking border wall funding to legislation shielding immigrants who came to the country illegally as children — known as “Dreamers” — from deportation.

“The natural deal is DACA and the wall,” he said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Trump rescinded last year, putting young immigrants at risk of removal.

But Republicans acknowledge that getting a deal on the border wall and other contentious issues will depend on the outcome of the midterm elections.

“What kind of mood the Democrats are in, I don’t think we know,” Cole said.

Schumer on Tuesday said he would discuss Democratic priorities for the lame duck at a later date.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune (S.D.) said there’s strong desire among GOP lawmakers to pass a package of so-called tax extenders and to make some corrections to the $1.5 trillion tax-reform legislation Congress passed last year.

“There will be an attempt to try and get as much done as we can before the end of this calendar year,” Thune said. “We could get something done on finishing up the tax reform stuff of last year, technical corrections.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday told reporters that he would put criminal justice reform legislation on the floor in the lame-duck session if it can garner 60 votes to overcome a potential filibuster.

“Criminal justice has been much discussed,” he said. “What we’ll do after the election is take a whip count and if there are more than 60 senators who want to go forward on that bill, we’ll find time to address it.”

That legislation combines a House-passed prison reform bill, the First Step Act, with bipartisan sentencing reform provisions crafted by the Senate. It is a top priority of senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.

Trump signaled he could support the criminal justice reform compromise when he met with Republican senators in early August.

McConnell has never been a big fan of the legislation, which divides his caucus, but Trump’s support is a major factor to consider.

“We’re going to try real hard to get it done,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who helped put the compromise together.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) says it now looks certain that the farm bill, which has been stuck in protracted Senate and House negotiations, won’t move until after the election.

“We’re making progress, we are closing out titles,” he said.

GOP lawmakers are also pressing for action on reforms that have been under discussion for months by the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Reform.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the task force, said Congress needs to pass the reforms and they need to be signed by the president by the end of the year, at which time the select committee will dissolve.

Also up for consideration is legislation overhauling how Congress handles sexual harassment claims and bills designed to improve the security of U.S. elections and to slap sanctions on foreign powers that try to interfere in U.S. elections.

Senate and House negotiators have yet to reconcile measures passed by each chamber dealing with sexual harassment, and the election security measure could hinge on what, if any, meddling is seen in connection with the midterm elections.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who played a prominent role in pushing the Senate to pass sexual harassment legislation earlier this year, said she would talk to McConnell about its timing after the election, adding that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will also be needed to help push the measure toward the finish line.

“I will speak to Sen. McConnell again because we’re just waiting on Republican leadership,” she said. “We’re waiting on both Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell to decide to let the bills be conferenced.”

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who has jurisdiction over the issue as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, said part of the problem is that the House had been out of session in August and recently recessed again to allow lawmakers to campaign for the midterms.

“If you look back at the end of July on, there have been maybe 10 days when House and Senate members have really been here at the same time,” he said.

Blunt, who also has jurisdiction over the election security legislation, said he was uncertain of its prospects in the lame-duck session.

“I don’t know about that. We will certainly look at the election and see what happened,” he added. “I’m never very optimistic about a lame duck.”

“It will be totally dependent on what happens Election Day, the whole atmosphere,” Blunt said. 

Cornyn, the second-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, said Congress needs to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

“That goes until Dec. 7, so we’ll need to address that before then,” he said.

Republican chairmen are pushing to get some of their pet priorities onto the loaded schedule.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said he hopes the Senate will take up the House-passed Jobs Act 3.0, which addresses capital formation.

And Thune, chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said he wants McConnell to schedule time on the AV Start Act, which would set national standards for the testing and deployment of self-driving cars.

He also wants action on legislation known as the Streamline Act that would promote the rapid deployment of 5G networks.