Team -
It has already been a busy week in the Senate, as three major bills are moving through the process -- FAA, an energy efficiency bill and the first of 12 appropriations bills. Our team is tracking all of these closely, but I wanted to make sure you had the broad overview of the state of play in the Senate as conservatives once against find themselves being pressured by the leadership.
Three quick examples:
McConnell Fighting for Export-Import Bank.
We’ve heard the rumblings for a while, but Bloomberg News confirmed
last week that McConnell is pushing Banking Chairman Richard Shelby to
advance a nominee for the Export-Import Bank, which currently does not
have a quorum on the board. The lack of quorum means ExIm cannot
authorize loans larger than $10 million. For companies like GE and
Boeing, that is a problem because they only seek massive taxpayer-backed
loans. Boeing in particular has called on the Senate to act.
Fortunately, Senator Shelby is standing strong, telling Bloomberg,
"Well, [McConnell] says he’s against it, but I don’t know. I’m against
it. You know, we’re not going to be moving it out of committee, OK?"
Moderates Try to Silence Conservatives.
Senator Bob Corker is pushing legislation re: international slavery,
but the bill has serious pro-life issues. Senator Mike Lee has expressed
concerns and Heritage has written on the need to strengthen the
anti-abortion language. Corker apparently ”argued that it’s
counterproductive” for conservative senators to talk with conservative
policy experts about policies “championed” by Republicans. Senator
Lisa Murkowski went even further, saying “Generally speaking, any effort
that would encourage outside groups to weigh in on internal discussions
is not healthy.” Of course, these same senators consult with outside
groups all the time, including special interest lobbyists.
McConnell Moves Obama-Level Spending Bills.
While the House is still fighting over its FY17 spending levels,
McConnell is embracing Obama’s spending levels, telling reporters “We
will be using the top line that was agreed to last year in order to move
forward on the Senate appropriations bills.” Of course, that level
opposed by 65-percent of the Senate Republican Conference.
There
are some folks suggesting we should ignore all of this because the
Senate is standing firm against moving Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
That is nonsense. Leadership should be using that unity to advance
conservative policies, not undermine conservatives. Let me know if you have any questions.
Dan Holler
Vice President
Communications and Government Relations
Heritage Action for America
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