Because pro-wrestling admits it is a performance...
Today, the Senate continues debating the highway funding bill. Tonight, the Senate will vote on an amendment extending the life of the Export-Import Bank (EximBank), which expired at the beginning of the month.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking all amendments to the highway bill except the Eximbank bill and an Obamacare repeal amendment. McConnell used the procedural trick of "filling the tree" to block all other amendments, even though he regularly criticized his predecessor Harry Reid for "filling the tree" to block amendments and promised an open process on all legislation considered by the Senate .
The Obamacare repeal vote appears to be a "shiny object" designed to distract free-market advocates from the Eximbank deal, since everyone knows there are not 60 votes to repeal Obamacare. That is why Campaign for Liberty supports using reconciliation as a vehicle for Obamacare repeal, since then Obamacare repeal can pass with a 50 vote margin.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah is going to try to force leadership to have an Obamacare vote with a 50-vote threshold, however, he is unlikely to succeed as the leadership is opposed to his motion.
The House leadership has said they will not consider the Senate's long-term highway legislation. However, they have not said what they would do if the Senate took up the short-term extension bill that the House passed several weeks ago, attached the Eximbank extensions attached to it, and then sent it back to the House.
Tim Carney at the Washington Examiner provides a good explanation of the situation surrounding the highway bill.
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PDFTags: Eximbank, GOP Senate