One last reform?
Congress, as is common, is in scramble mode.
The existing government funding bill is set to expire Friday. The House is waiting on the Senate to pass a one-week stop gap bill, which will give negotiators more time to hammer out a deal on a large spending bill to fund the government for another year.
While Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Democratic Rep. Rosie DeLaurio announced this week that they had come to an agreement on a framework for the spending package, the details have not yet been revealed to the public. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said lawmakers have until December 23rd to pass a bill.
One provision that’s likely to make it into the package is the Electoral Count Act, a bill that has picked up bipartisan support in the Senate and would make it harder for members of Congress to attempt to overturn the results of a presidential election.
Sen. Roy Blunt, who is retiring this year, is among the Republican members who have backed the legislation in the hopes that it would eliminate some of the loopholes allies of former President Donald Trump were attempting to exploit in their effort to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election.
In a press conference earlier this month, he stressed the importance of passing the bill because it clarifies the role of the vice president in counting the electoral votes, it lifts the threshold for challenging votes from one senator and Representative to 20% of the Senate and House and it clarifies language about state legislators and what they would do about a failed election.
“I think this is one of the pieces of legislation, with that kind of bipartisan support, that we should be able to deal with this year, before this Congress ends, and I hope we do,” Blunt said.
Blunt was Missouri’s top election official between 1984 and 1992. As the ranking Republican member of the Senate Rules Committee, Blunt held a ceremonial role in the certification of the 2020 presidential results, a process that was interrupted by the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, as Trump supporters attempted to stop the process.
Last week, when Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar made a speech about Blunt’s legacy, she talked about that day, saying she was proud of Blunt for stepping up to ensure that the insurrection did not prevent Congress from performing its duty and certifying the election.
“Roy just kept doing his job,” Klobuchar said. “We came back to the Senate, the sun was coming up, it was about 4 in the morning at this point and we decide to go down to the parliamentarians offices, which were destroyed. And one of the beloved members of our parliamentarian staff, a family picture was on the floor and the whole thing was a mess. And we stood there and we committed that we were not just going to clean up the Capitol and improve the security, but make this all better.”
Blunt and Klobuchar already worked on a law that would allow Capitol Police to request emergency assistance from the National Guard to address the breakdown in getting more assistance to protect the Capitol on January 6.
Some of the people who have been arrested or convicted for storming the Capitol have said they believed that it was still possible to prevent the peaceful transition of power and keep Trump in office.
If the Electoral Count Act passes, Blunt will have helped clean up the process that contributed to that false belief.
More from Missouri
Andrew Hartzler recorded a TikTok video that criticized his aunt, Rep. Vicky Hartzler, for crying while urging her colleagues to oppose a bill that would enshrine federal protections for same sex marriage. His video went viral and, this week, he was on the South Lawn to watch President Joe Biden sign the bill his aunt vehemently opposed.
Here are headlines from across the state:
▪ He criticized ‘Aunt Vicky’ Hartzler for gay marriage bill tears, now he’s at White House, Daniel Desrochers
▪ Missouri woman scheduled for execution next month asks for clemency, Katie Moore
▪ Cost to make railroad crossings safer is skyrocketing. It means fewer are fixed, Judy L. Thomas and Laura Bauer
▪ Is it time for new railroad rules? Critics say U.S. train industry is in crisis, Kevin Hardy and Daniel Desrochers
▪ Mizzou students want right-wing group’s former leader expelled for racist Snapchat post, Sarah Ritter
And across Kansas
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly was the most vulnerable Democratic governor in the country heading into the 2022 election. Her winning campaign, which emphasized her “middle of the road” credentials, boosted her into the national spotlight. She’s set to lead the Democratic Governors Association during the 2024 campaign. Will her style become the model for Democrats trying to win in conservative states?
▪ Kelly beat the odds to win reelection. Has she become a national model?, Katie Bernard and Daniel Desrochers
▪ Staffing crisis at Kansas mental hospital deepens. What will lawmakers do next session? Katie Bernard
▪ Pipeline ran at higher pressure before KS oil spill, cause still unknown, Natalie Wallington and Katie Bernard
▪ Lawmakers want KS Highway Patrol under Kobach’s authority, Jonathan Shorman and Katie Bernard
▪ Kris Kobach taps his former primary rival, a longtime federal prosecutor, to lead KBI, Katie Bernard
The latest from Kansas City
In Kansas City …
▪ Truck-eating KC bridge may go hungry after agreement reached to install fix, Robert A. Cronkleton
▪ Police report on excessive force claim a ‘flat-out lie,’ witness says. KCPD investigates, Jenna Thompson
▪ Bitter arctic blast could make Kansas City Christmas among coldest in city’s history, Robert A. Cronkleton
Have a news tip? Send it along to ddesrochers@kcstar.com
Odds and ends
TikTok No
Sen. Josh Hawley was able to pass a bill that would ban the video app TikTok from U.S. government devices.
“TikTok is a Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party,” Hawley said. “It’s a major security risk to the United States, and until it is forced to sever ties with China completely, it has no place on government devices. States across the U.S. are banning TikTok on government devices. It’s time for Joe Biden and the Democrats to help do the same.”
This is the second time Hawley has been able to pass this bill in the Senate using a process called “unanimous consent,” where it can pass the Senate without going through a committee so long as no other senator objects. It’s usually used for non-controversial bills.
His 2020 bill, which passed the same way, died in the House. His latest version is unlikely to be considered by the House this time either. There are only a few days left in the current Congress and the focus is on passing an omnibus budget deal.
Puerto Rico
The House on Thursday passed a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to hold a vote to determine if it wants independence from the United States or statehood. It passed 233-191 and none of the Republican members from Kansas or Missouri joined the 16 Republicans who crossed party lines and voted with the Democrats in support of the bill.
“For more than a century, Puerto Rico has been governed under a political system imposed by outside forces rather than established by its own people,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Denied the right to a vote in Congress or for President, Puerto Rico’s territorial status has often left it vulnerable to unequal treatment — including the previous administration’s cruel withholding of disaster aid in the wake of Hurricanes Maria and Irma.”
The bill is unlikely to pass the U.S. Senate in the remainder of the “lame duck” period before a new Congress comes into power in January. McConnell has adamantly opposed adding both Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia as states, arguing that doing so is an attempt by the Democratic Party to pick up more seats in the U.S. Senate.
Prairie chicken
Rep. Ron Estes is trying to reverse a Biden administration policy that placed the lesser prairie chicken on the list of threatened and endangered species.
Estes introduced a bill to remove the bird from the threatened and endangered species list and gave a speech on the House floor last week decrying the Biden administration’s effort to protect the bird, which is native to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado.
“Its inclusion on the threatened and endangered species list is detrimental to our robust ag and energy industries, blatant bureaucratic overreach and is another example of the Biden administration hindering American energy independence,” Estes said.
Environmentalists have raised concerns that the birds are at risk because of cattle grazing and oil and gas drilling and their listing on the threatened and endangered species list would make it more difficult for oil and gas companies to drill on the Permian Basin.
Republican Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran have spoken out against the decision, saying it didn’t take into account voluntary conservation efforts to protect the bird.
Happy Friday
Here’s a rather serious article about a fentanyl poisoning in Colorado. On a lighter note, last weekend I learned about a holiday drink called Wassail. When I was a teenager, I was introduced to the annual Christmas concert at King’s College in Cambridge. That concert always starts with the song Once in a Royal David’s City. It’s the carol that always kicks off my Christmas season.
Enjoy your weekend.
Looking for more?
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