Republican senators are stuck in a fight or flight dilemma as they weigh their midterm strategy this week.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t made a call yet about cutting the session short to get lawmakers back on the campaign trail or keeping them in Washington to try and address growing voter unease with inflation and gas prices fueled by President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
Republicans will discuss the schedule during their closed-door caucus lunch Wednesday afternoon, two people granted anonymity to discuss planning tell POLITICO.
“We ought to be doing anything we possibly can to try to help” lower the cost of living, Sen. Jim Justice said. “The problem is everybody is running to get out of the doors and everything so they can go preserve their ability to get reelected.”
As of now, the chamber will spend its final days this week focused on passage of a college sports bill, setting up a split screen between the real economic pain hitting Americans and the relatively light stakes of the chamber’s floor agenda. That in itself is adding to the anxiety of some GOP lawmakers raising concerns their majority is in real peril.
At the same time, it’s unclear whether lawmakers can reach a consensus on any consequential legislation in such a short window to address rising costs, and any successful bills would sit idly in the now recessed House.
Still, a handful of senators are making last-ditch appeals for legislative action.
Sen. Jon Husted told reporters Tuesday he’s hoping for a vote on his bill to curb data center-related energy costs.
“It’s foolish both policy-wise and political-wise not to put it on the floor,” Sen. John Kennedy said about Husted’s bill.
Sen. Roger Marshall, who like Husted is locked in a closer-than-expected race, floated a vote on his long-stalled bill capping credit card “swipe fees” — which he said would “lower the cost of gasoline two or three percent” for those putting it on plastic.
And Sen. Susan Collins said she wants to see her bipartisan insulin bill get a vote on the floor next week.
Collins is also pressing for a long-sought bipartisan permitting reform deal to come together this week, which Republicans believe would show voters they are committed to addressing affordability issues.
What else we’re watching:
— PERMITTING DEAL FATE COULD SET UP EXIT: Striking an energy permitting deal could be enough of a reason to keep senators in session longer to vote on it, Thune told POLITICO on Tuesday night. “If we can get a deal there, that’s something that most of our members believe is really consequential legislation and worthwhile,” Thune said, adding Republicans would discuss the issue at their weekly lunch Wednesday. The deal got new life after Trump signaled he’d ease his administration’s blockade on wind projects to help grease negotiations with Democrats.
— HOUSE GOP LEADERS WEIGH PRE-MIDTERM RETURN: Chatter is picking up in Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership circle about the possibility of a pre-midterm House return — but such a move would likely only happen if the Senate passes energy permitting reform, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. What else GOP leaders must weigh: the chamber’s return would trigger an impeachment vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, something Republicans had hoped to avoid before the election. Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz told POLITICO on Tuesday night he believes the House would come back early to take up his college sports bill if senators pass it this week, but timing would be “a decision for the speaker.”
Jordain Carney, Josh Siegel, Meredith Lee Hill, Mia McCarthy and Kelsey Brugger contributed to this report.
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