Senate Leaves Town Without Addressing Major Issues Before Midterms
The Senate left Washington, D.C., Wednesday without addressing several key issues before the midterm elections.
The upper chamber is not set to return until after the midterm elections, although high prices and key legislative issues remain unresolved. Senators did not address the farm bill, artificial intelligence (AI), mass surveillance or high costs — a key issue for voters.
Senate Democrats blocked The Ratepayer Protection Act Wednesday, which would have required states to consider making data centers pay for rising electricity costs caused by grid updates. The bill did not require states to force data centers to pay more, causing many senators to argue the legislation would have no real impact.
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Republican Ohio Sen. Jon Husted hoped passing the bill would boost his chances in his competitive race against former Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. Electric bills in high concentration states surged faster than the 6 percent national average, rising 13 percent in Virginia, 16 percent in Illinois and 12 percent in Ohio over a one-year time frame, according to CNBC.
Affordability remained a top issue for voters in the midterm elections while prices of energy, electricity and gas surged since the start of the Iran war. Some Democrats worried about the optics of voting down a bill that intended to help with rising electricity costs before the election, although Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a “fraud” during a Tuesday press gaggle.
Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire voted with Republicans to advance the legislation.
Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins urged her colleagues in September to pass a bill addressing affordability before they left town as she faces a competitive November race against Democratic Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson.
Republicans left without taking up resolutions under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to target California’s energy policies, including a House-passed measure that would remove state’s import-export tax on goods that come through its ports, Punchbowl News reported. Some of the CRAs will have expired by the time the Senate returns, which is a win for Democrats.
Senators did not vote on the farm bill after the 2018 extension expired Tuesday. The expiration will cause major uncertainty for farmers, low income families and rural voters because of the funding halts to conservation, rural development, agricultural research and loans for farmers.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday that the Senate may take up government funding, a third reconciliation package and other nominations before the end of the year, according to Punchbowl News.
Tech leaders and AI researchers warned that AI development needed to slow down, arguing it could destroy the human race within the next decade. The Senate did not pass any legislation to address the growing concerns.
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to ban AI superintelligence, which did not reach the floor. Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy put forth a bill to require a “kill switch” for all AI models. The bill did not pass after Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul shut it down.
Senators did not take up any legislation to tackle the $40 trillion in national debt.
Senate leaders voted to confirm Keith Sonderling as the next Labor Secretary before leaving Washington.
Republican political action committees (PACs) spent unprecedented amounts of money in red states and districts to save their candidates, including Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is neck-and-neck with Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico. Republicans expected to spend between $150 million and $200 million to save Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton from losing to Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico, according to Punchbowl News.
Polling for Republicans dropped after the midterm convention, with RealClearPolitics’ Generic Congressional Vote showing Democrats at 50.6 percent and Republicans at 42.3 percent.
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