Judy: Less than 50 days out from
the closely-fought midterm
elections, the U.S. House of
representatives has passed a
bill to make it harder to
overthrow an election.
Meanwhile, yet another
government shutdown deadline
looms.
Our Lisa Desjardins is following
it all.
Hello, Lisa.
What are we, more than a year
and a half since the attack on
the capitol on January 6.
Congress is now moving on bills
that would essentially shore up
strength in the presidential
election process.
Bring us up-to-date.
Lisa: We have just seen the
first vote on this idea of
trying to reform this antiquated
1887 electoral count act that is
vague and left this opening
potential he legally for
former president trump to make
the argument perhaps the
election could be overturned
inside congress.
So let's talk about what exactly
the house passed yesterday.
In this bill, it would first of
all clarified that the vice
president has no substantive
role at all in certifying the
final vote or outcome of the
election.
It would raise the objection
standard so it would be one
third of the members of each
chamber.
Right now, it is just one member
of each chamber.
It would sharply limit the
grounds on which any member of
either chamber could object.
It would be exceedingly narrow
cases.
In fact, the objections we saw
in 2020 and years pass from
Democrats would no longer be
able to stand muster if you went
with this bill.
What is interesting, these ideas
do not reflect any kind of
political candidate, party.
They are not about former
president trump or president
Biden.
We did see a partisan divide
here.
Only nine Republicans voted in
favor of this bill.
These are the nine right there.
Some of our viewers might
recognize.
All nine of them are not
returning to the capital.
They have either retired or lost
primary races.
You see that for Republicans,
and I have this reporting for my
sources, president trump
has made this a test of loyalty.
What will happen next, the
senate has a bipartisan version
of this idea.
It is a little bit different,
but it is close enough.
I think after the midterm
elections, we will see a final
version of this reform move or
the in congress.
Judy: Interesting it is taking
so long.
Different subject, government
funding runs out September 30.
Lo and behold, here we are
again.
They have not come to an
agreement.
There is an issue standing in
the way.
It has to do with energy
projects and something called
permitting reform.
Explain.
Lisa: Lots to cover here.
This is about the future of
energy in this country and the
future of the environment,
including how this country
tackles climate change.
It is also about senator Joe
Manchin, who said he had an
agreement that his reform idea
would make it into the end of
the year funding bill that is
coming up.
His bill would have a two year
on environmental reviews.
Sometimes that goes on for many
years right now.
It would allow for some projects
to be declared having national
interest.
It would clear the way for a
project in Virginia, the
mountain valley pipeline, which
he has been trying to get
through.
This bill -- environmentalists
say this would help the fossil
fuel industry, but it would also
help extend transmission lines,
electric lines, which is good
for renewable fuel.
We wanted to talk to an activist
in West Virginia.
Listen to the debate, senator
Manchin's version of why this is
needed, and this activist on why
it goes too far.
>> No matter what you want,
whether it is transmission,
pipelines, hydropower dams, more
often than not it takes too
long, drives up costs.
You can double your costs within
a five to six year period.
Double what the original costs
may be.
>> For an environmental review
to be done thoroughly and
adequate, you need to allow time
for the scientists to get out in
the field and actually assess
what's happening on the ground.
They need to be able to collect
baseline data to ensure that
there are no impacts to water
resources.
So you really can't fast-track
that environmental review
process.
Lisa: Autumn has said there are
already problems with this
pipeline in the state.
It runs down through west
Virginia into Virginia.
But what this is about is how
the federal government handers
energy and how it
handles the land.
Judy: So we've got just a week,
over a week barely, to get
government funding figured out.
Lisa: Senator Manchin said this
most be in the bill -- this must
be in the bill.
He doesn't have the votes.
Republicans say they are not on
board.
Democrats say that it is too
conservative.
I think what is going to happen
as it stands right now, this
portion of the bill will likely
be removed.
We will see where we are on
Tuesday and Wednesday of next
week.
But if that does come out, it
does clear the way potentially
for a funding bill.
We may be talking about money
for Ukraine and other issues,
dollar amounts, but this looks
like senator Manchin just
doesn't have the votes he needs.
Judy: As we said, we are just
days away.
I know you will be watching.