It’s a calculation by Republicans to keep the Senate in session this week. The Senate was scheduled to meet anyway over the next few days. But the general consensus early last week was that the Senate would be done then and those facing competitive races would be back home campaigning.
Republicans wanted to stay in Washington. For a very specific reason. And many of them told Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., as much at their weekly luncheon.
"Odds are we plan on being here next week," said Thune. REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: CONGRESS STRUGGLES TO FIND A MESSAGE THAT RESONATES WITH VOTERS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS One Senate aide compared the Senate’s schedule to a cat chasing a beam of light from a laser pointer. But the Senate is in fact meeting.
Most of them are political. The Senate wasn’t quite done with the bill to regulate money in intercollegiate athletics last week. And with the affordability question vexing Republicans, they really didn’t want to pass the college sports bill and promptly vacate Washington.
That would be an awkward punctuation point at the end of the legislative sentence before the midterms. GOPers wanted something more substantive. Democrats might have presented that opportunity to Republicans on a platter.
Before the House left for the midterms the week before last, it accentuated its session by passing the Ratepayer Protection Act, 417-3. Let me tell you, not much passes around here with 417 votes. Like their Senate colleagues, House Republicans also worry about voters doubting they’re addressing affordability.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
