What does Raphael Warnock's win mean?
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2022 10:38 am
Top Democrats will regain subpoena power. Committee work should get easier. And Sen. Joe Manchin will lose some leverage — even as the West Virginia Democrat gains more leeway to buck President Joe Biden. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s victory over Republican Herschel Walker in Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff means Democrats will have a 51-seat majority in the next Congress, ending the longest period in history with an evenly divided Senate. An extra vote doesn’t do much for Democrats’ ability to pass legislation on climate, or anything else. Republicans control the House, and most bills require 60 Senate votes. The upper chamber’s unanimous consent requirements also will continue to empower individual senators to jam up action.
Manchin’s last-gasp permitting effort fails. E&E News.
Congressional Democratic leaders fell short in a last-ditch effort to honor a promise to pass Sen. Joe Manchin’s permitting overhaul proposal. The final text of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act released Tuesday night did not include language that would have shortened timelines for National Environmental Policy Act reviews and limited citizen judicial challenges for proposed energy projects. It’s a blow for Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat and chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. His proposed reform efforts would have included approval for the Mountain Valley pipeline, a natural gas project in his state. < Will mean people in Northeast will keep paying higher natural gas prices than they should.
Manchin’s last-gasp permitting effort fails. E&E News.
Congressional Democratic leaders fell short in a last-ditch effort to honor a promise to pass Sen. Joe Manchin’s permitting overhaul proposal. The final text of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act released Tuesday night did not include language that would have shortened timelines for National Environmental Policy Act reviews and limited citizen judicial challenges for proposed energy projects. It’s a blow for Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat and chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. His proposed reform efforts would have included approval for the Mountain Valley pipeline, a natural gas project in his state. < Will mean people in Northeast will keep paying higher natural gas prices than they should.