McConnell says GOP will stand firm on energy

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) indicated Monday that GOP senators will hold firm against any effort to pass anything besides the energy bill.

“Right now the No. 1 subject in the country is the price of gas at the pump,” McConnell said at the outset of the Senate’s last week of work before the August recess. “We think we ought to do something about that and then move on to other subjects.”

{mosads}McConnell’s stance means the chamber could be frozen and unable to pass energy tax extenders, a defense authorization measure or virtually anything else at least until senators return in September after the Republican National Convention.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), echoed Reid’s long-held contention that Republicans are simply stalling and are uninterested in a genuine solution to high gas prices.

“As soon as Republicans decide they are more interested in doing something instead of just talking, they know where to reach Sen. Reid,” Manley said.

Democrats last week failed to pass a bill to crack down on speculation in the oil futures market, after Republicans insisted that Reid allow a more open amendment process. The GOP is pushing for an amendment that would allow them to vote on lifting the congressional moratorium on offshore oil drilling.

McConnell hedged when asked Monday if he could produce enough votes for a drilling amendment. Assuming all 49 Republican senators vote for such an amendment, McConnell would still need 11 more votes to reach the necessary threshold of 60.

The minority leader did note, however, that the defense authorization measure is usually handled in September, suggesting that there is still time to hash that out after the recess.

“When the Senate decides to accomplish things, it can do it in record time,” he said.

McConnell said he has not discussed with President Bush the possibility of calling on Congress to cut short its August recess to reopen the energy bill debate, “but if he does, I’ll be happy to be here.”