END-OF-YEAR DRAMA IN CONGRESS
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent
 
The federal fiscal year is an autumn baby, a new one born each Oct. 1. 
 
But in modern politics, the departing fiscal year is the needy one, regularly resulting in a swirl of September fireworks. This year’s season-ending drama in Congress is specific: a fight over, of all things, permitting reform. 
 
We thought we’d lay out what’s happening, exactly.
 
What is the Sept. 30 deadline again? This is the deadline to fund the government for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. If Congress does not pass more funding by the end of the day Sept. 30, much of the government will have no funds. This is because Congress again failed to pass annual appropriations bills on time. 
 
Can’t they just pass temporary funding? Yes. Absolutely. Right now, both chambers and parties agree that they want a temporary funding deal, often known as a “continuing resolution.” But there are problems.
 
Oh? There are multiple problems.
 
Oh! For one, Democrats would like to focus on a deal that extends funding into December. But Republicans, who think midterm wins will allow them to take over the House chamber and possibly also the Senate starting in January, are crying foul and want the temporary funding bill to go longer, into when they hope to run Congress.
 
So that’s one issue. What is another? Get ready for some serious policy! It’s permitting reform.
 
This sounds very dry. It’s not.  
 
This is about America’s environmental and energy policies. Permitting reform is a reference to the process for how the government makes thousands of decisions on projects big and small – and more specifically, how agencies issue permits for those projects, especially under a law called the National Environmental Policy Act, known as NEPA.
 
For every project that has federal licensing, assistance or funding, NEPA requires, among other things, an environmental impact statement, or EIS.
 
Projects cannot get permitted and cannot go forward without this. Environmentalists say that is a critical check on the system that drilling, building or any other project does not do permanent harm to communities and ecosystems.
 
But energy advocates say this process has been used to throw important projects into years of limbo without approval.
 
Got it. So what does this have to do with Congress now? Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has long championed the idea of setting a firm timeline for EIS reports. And he made a deal with Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer earlier this year. Manchin would support the Democrat’s Inflation Reduction Act (he did) and Schumer would put Manchin’s permitting reform ideas into a key bill.
 
Fast forward and that key bill is the continuing resolution that is being crafted to keep government funding after Sept. 30.
 
Ok, so what is the problem? On the left, some progressives in both the House and Senate do not like Manchin’s idea. They think it opens the door to harmful energy projects and could tamp down local communities’ objections to projects in the environmental review process. At the same time, Republicans, who generally want permitting reform, say that this reform does not go far enough and see this as a deal between Schumer and Manchin, which undermined their understanding of how Manchin was going to operate.
 
In shorter language, Republicans are still angry that Manchin and Schumer managed to get the Inflation Reduction Act passed. Those Republicans say Manchin deceived them; Manchin says that is not remotely true.
 
What is true is there is bad blood between Manchin and Republicans. And at least 10 GOP senators are needed to pass a bill keeping the government funded.
 
So this is a standoff. Yes. Multiple standoffs.
 
Is the government going to shut down? We’ve arrived at the key question. It still seems unlikely, because there is significant time, an entire 10 days(!) until the funding deadline. But the off-ramp out of this situation is not yet clear. So, we are monitoring it daily. 
 
What we do expect in the meantime: More waiting, more drama.

WHERE AMERICANS STAND ON THE IDEA OF AN ABORTION BAN
By Laura Santhanam, @LauraSanthanam
Health Reporter & Coordinating Producer for Polling
 
A majority of Americans say they are more likely to vote during the Nov. 8 midterm elections following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. And one out of five Americans said abortion is their top priority when they think about what issues will motivate them at the polls this fall.

This week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., proposed legislation that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions for incest, rape and risk to the life of the pregnant person. Top Republicans have not publicly supported his move and the bill is not expected to become law.
 
Graham's bill for a nationwide abortion ban arrives as Republicans seek to take control of the House and Senate with messages often focused on inflation and the economy, as well as the President Joe Biden’s leadership. Several Democrats have leapt on Graham's proposal to draw comparisons between the two parties, with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., suggesting that “Republicans are coming for your rights.”
 
In a recent poll, conducted in late August and early September, a third of Democrats — 35 percent — said abortion is the most important issue to them when they think about their vote in November, along with 22 percent of independents and 10 percent of Republicans. Similarly, Democrats were far more likely than Republicans or independents to say they plan to vote in the midterms because of the Supreme Court's decision on abortion. In contrast, Republicans were more likely than Democrats or independents to say the high court's revoking federal protections for abortion made no difference in how they intend to vote.
 
Americans are split on their support for the kind of restrictions Graham has proposed. Back in May, 48 percent said they backed state laws that banned abortion after 15 weeks (excluding medical emergencies or severe birth defects), while another 49 percent opposed such a measure.


#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Matt Loffman, @mattloff
Politics Producer
 
Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day, a nonpartisan civic holiday with the backing of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
 
Its goal is simple: Sign Americans up to vote. Since its founding a decade ago, more than 4.7 million voters have registered through the coordinated effort of volunteers and organizations. 
 
There are fewer than 50 days until Election Day, and many states require voters to register in advance. A handful of U.S. states allow for same-day voter registration.
 
Our question: By November’s general election, how many states will allow for same-day voter registration?
 
Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.
 
Last week, we asked: From 1951 to 2022, Queen Elizabeth II met in person with every sitting U.S. president – except for one. Who was it?
 
The answer: Lyndon Johnson. The 36th president of the United States did not visit Britain during his presidency. Biden was the 13th and final U.S. president to meet the late monarch.
 
Congratulations to our winners: Kathleen P. Steele and Rick Boudiette!
 
Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.