Democrats’ decisive midterm election victories are raising new doubts about whether Congress will advance permitting reform during the lame-duck session. With larger-than-expected Democratic majorities on the horizon, some lawmakers may prefer to revisit the issue next year rather than accept a compromise negotiated under a different political landscape.
“We did appear to have alignment amongst Republican and Democrat senators on permitting reform,” Bracewell’s Joe Brazauskas said during a post-election briefing, as quoted by Inside EPA. “But [the draft] was negotiated in a world where the prospects of Democrats controlling the US Senate looked fundamentally different than the at least 54-seat majority that Democrats achieved last night.”
“There are still powerful Democrats in position of leadership that want to advance the ball” on permitting, Bracewell’s Scott Segal said during the webinar.