The News
Senate Republicans spent this week wrestling through divisions, reelecting John Thune as their leader, and pledging to confirm conservative judges while avoiding a government shutdown during their last two months in the majority.
They still haven’t figured out how to use their greatest power in the lame duck: another big party-line bill that would send billions to the Pentagon. Such a proposal could contain other GOP priorities; Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, dubbed it the “last supper” for the party’s reign.
Republicans have just a few more weeks to use the blunt power of budget reconciliation, which allows them to evade a filibuster to send President Donald Trump funding viewed as crucial by many in the Republican Party for depleted military reserves and ammunition after nine months of war. Using the tool, which Republicans wielded last year to pass a party line tax bill and this year for immigration enforcement funding, represents a crucial calculation for Thune to make as Democrats weigh blocking a government funding bill if it includes money for the Iran conflict.
But passing a party-line bill is not going to be easy: It requires 50 Senate votes, a majority in the House, and two unlimited Senate vote-a-ramas that defeated or retiring members may have little interest in enduring. And Senate Budget Chair Ron Johnson, R-Wis.…
