Senator Tim Kaine (D., Va.) introduced an amendment on Thursday to strip a provision in the debt-ceiling bill that would expedite the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
In a concession proposed by the White House, the version of the debt-ceiling deal that passed the House Wednesday night included a provision stripping courts of their ability to review challenges to any permit or authorization granted to the project by an executive agency, allowing the pipeline to finally be completed after years of litigation.
Top Republican negotiators explained in a call with reporters that expediting completion of the 303-mile natural-gas pipeline is a strategic win, putting Democrats on the record voting to limit judicial review of a conventional energy project.
Kaine is furious he wasn’t consulted and that the normal permitting process is being circumvented.
“It’s extremely frustrating because there could have been other vehicles to do it. I mean, it doesn’t have to go into the debt-ceiling bill,” Kaine told Politico. “[The White House doesn’t] even bother to pick up the phone and call me. Have I made them mad?”
Senator Mark Warner (D., Va.) explained that while he will vote for the debt-ceiling deal, he supports Kaine’s attempt to strip language pertaining to the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are in support of the deal and have emphasized it must move through the chamber quickly. If amendments are approved, it will have to go back to the House for another vote, making an already difficult timeline nearly impossible.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has explained that the debt ceiling must be suspended before June 5.
“Time is a luxury the Senate does not have if we want to prevent a default,” Schumer explained. Unanimous consent would allow the upper chamber to fast-track the bill, but it would take just one senator to delay matters.
There are also a number of Republican senators who have proposed or are considering amendments. Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah) has introduced an amendment to strike Section 265 from the Act.
“Section 265 currently empowers the Biden Administration’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Shalanda Young, to unilaterally waive a provision referred to as ‘administrative PAYGO.’ This provision requires administrative agencies to offset the expense of any regulatory discretionary administrative action. Removing this check undermines the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s claim to regulatory reforms,” read a statement from the Utah senator.
Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) is also proposing an amendment to the deal, which would place “caps on total on-budget outlays that decrease by 5 percent each year which are enforceable by sequester.”
“Sixty percent of Americans say Congress should only raise the nation’s debt ceiling if it cuts spending at the same time. I would guess the Americans answering that poll meant real cuts in spending, not an annual increase of one percent above already bloated levels of COVID-19 spending,” said Paul in a statement.
Getting the deal in time to President Joe Biden’s desk may depend upon all of the amendments failing if they are put up for a vote.