The Senate reconvened at 10:00 A.M. and resumed consideration of Treaty document 117-1, amendment to Montreal Protocol post-cloture. The Kigali Amendment to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, compels countries to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, planet-warming chemicals used in air conditioning and refrigeration that are hundreds to thousands of times as powerful as carbon dioxide. The treaty needs the approval of a two-thirds supermajority of the chamber, at least 67 senators if all 100 senators are present, to become law.
The Senate is also expected to consider S.4822, to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for additional disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, Super PACs and other entities. The Senate may also take up the nomination of Amanda Bennett to be Chief Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media and Arati Prabhakar to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The House reconvened at 12:00 P.M. and will begin Consideration of H.R. 8873 – Presidential Election Reform Act. The Presidential Election Reform Act, written by Representatives Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) and Zoe Lofgren (D-California), explicitly cites the Capitol attack as a reason to amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887, “to prevent other future unlawful efforts to overturn Presidential elections and to ensure future peaceful transfers of Presidential power.” The Act would clearly reaffirm the vice president has no role in validating a presidential election beyond acting as a figurehead who oversees the counting process, barring that person from changing the results. It also would expand the threshold necessary for members of both chambers to object to a state’s results, as well as clarify the role governors play in the process. Finally, it would make clear that state legislatures can’t change election rules retroactively to alter the results.
The House is also expected to complete consideration of S. 1098 – Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act.
