The Senate will enter into its second week of debate on the Keystone XL pipeline having taken exactly one vote on the issue. That vote was last Monday and, ironically, it was supposed to allow members to get to the business of amending and voting on the bill.
But nothing is that simple in the Senate, especially with Republicans adjusting to being in charge, wanting an open amendment process, but stymied by Democrats who can hold the issues up.
"We still have our training wheels on," Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said last week of Republicans' handling of the Senate's procedures.
Keystone will dominate the Senate schedule this week, while the House will focus on an abortion bill and both chambers gather Tuesday to hear President Obama deliver his State of the Union address.
Glimmers of hope appeared mid-afternoon Tuesday in the Senate when Republicans and Democrats managed to come to agreement on the first three amendments that could get votes on the floor this week. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who is managing the floor debate with Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, said the two lawmakers are "working together to figure out how to organize a flow of amendments through the floor."
Not every member can get a vote on their amendment, and not every amendment is worth voting on, Murkowski said last week. She and Cantwell are charged with delivering that message (nicely) to their individual caucuses and negotiating a workable debate schedule for each side. That process is dragging on in part because of scheduling and in part because of trust issues. Last week, both Republicans and Democrats took a few days away from the floor to attend retreats. This week, business on Tuesday will stop mid-afternoon in preparation for the annual State of the Union address.
But then there are the trust issues. Democrats are wary that Republicans won't allow them to hold votes on the issues that matter to them the most. They know from experience that the minority party can cause difficulty for vulnerable members of the other party by forcing votes on tough issues. That is why so few Republican amendments came up for Senate votes in the last Congress.
A key test for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's promise of open amendments will be the Democrats' statement on the science of climate change. It is the most controversial of the amendments on tap, but it isn't one of the agreed-to first amendments. Democrats will insist on a climate-change vote before debate on Keystone is over. Without it, they are likely to throw up as many procedural hurdles as they can on other issues. Hence the delay.
Nevertheless, the Keystone voting will kick off this week with a bipartisan energy-efficiency package from Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. The other two amendments from Democrats are intended to send the message that the pipeline should not simply be a boon to international oil exporters. One, sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, bars exports of oil shipped on the pipeline, and a second, sponsored by Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, would require the pipeline be made with domestic materials and labor.
The House will host the State of the Union address on Tuesday. But later in the week, its members are taking on another hot-button issue"”abortion. On Thursday, the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, the House is slated to vote on a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. At last week's GOP retreat in Hershey, Pa., some lawmakers groused that the largely symbolic vote will alienate young voters and hurt Republicans in blue states, but aides expect the vote to move forward. No word yet on whether Senate leaders want to take on the issue.
The House is also expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that would speed approval for natural-gas pipelines, sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas. Here's what else is happening on the Hill:
Energy
On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will kick off a debate about an EPA proposal regulating coal ash, the toxic byproduct from coal-burning power plants. Chairman John Shimkus of Illinois has said the hearing could be a prelude to legislation that would tweak the EPA's rule, which did not regulate coal ash as a hazardous substance but set minimum standards for landfills and disposal ponds containing the ash.
National Security/Foreign Affairs
Senators are bracing for an Iran-sanctions bill that could be next up on the Senate floor after Keystone. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will get the ball rolling on Thursday at a hearing on Iran's nuclear program. Lawmakers will get an update from Antony Blinken, the deputy secretary of State, and David Cohen, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at Treasury. Committee Chairman Bob Corker says he expects a sanctions bill to be on the Senate floor in a few weeks.
Last week, President Obama said he would veto the bill. The administration is warning members of Congress that passing additional sanctions would jeopardize the ongoing negotiations, which were extended until July. Despite these protests, there is still bipartisan concern that Iran won't comply with a final deal.
On the national security front, the Senate Armed Services Committee will gavel in Wednesday with a hearing on national security and global challenges facing the United States. Former National Security Advisers Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski are expected to testify in what will be the first in a series of hearings on the subject.
The Veterans Affairs Department will be back under the spotlight Wednesday, with a House hearing on construction challenges within the department. A $16 billion bill that lawmakers passed last year to overhaul the embattled department included funding to lease new facilities. At a separate hearing Thursday, the House Veterans' Affairs Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee will dig into the department's appeals process for disability claims.
Health
The Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee will hold the first part of its hearing on Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate reform on Wednesday. The so-called "doc fix," a temporary adjustment of how doctors are paid under Medicare, is a cyclical issue that lawmakers would love to eradicate if only they could find a way to pay for it. The cost is roughly $130 billion, according to Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on a measure to change the Affordable Care Act's definition of "full-time" from 30 to 40 hours per week, weakening the law's employer mandate. The bill is one of Republicans' targeted attempts to chip away parts of the health care law without voting on full repeal. The White House has threatened to veto it.
Tech/Telecom
The House Energy and Commerce and Senate Commerce committees will hold back-to-back hearings on net neutrality on Wednesday, featuring testimony from industry executives on both sides of the issue. Congressional Republicans are scrambling to draft compromise net-neutrality legislation as the FCC prepares rules that would treat the Internet like a utility.
Michelle Lee and Danny Marti, President Obama's respective picks to lead the Patent and Trademark Office and the Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement, are heading back to Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The two nominees were called before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the lame-duck session at the end of the last Congress, but new Chairman Chuck Grassley made clear he intended to hold another hearing under his gavel. Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas will preside over the hearing.
Lee, the current acting director of the PTO, is a Google alum and heavily supported by the tech industry.