Senate defeats effort to defund clean water rule that protects wetlands

WASHINGTON — The Senate narrowly defeated a controversial amendment Thursday that would have stripped funding for clean water protections and ensured defeat of a $37.5 billion energy and water spending bill.

The vote was the first big test of Senate leaders' effort to pass all 12 annual funding bills that detail how federal agencies must spend billions of taxpayer dollars in 2017. An amendment by Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., to bar funding for a 2014 Obama administration rule to protect streams and wetlands failed by a vote of 56-42. It required 60 votes to pass.

Congress has not passed all 12 spending bills by the Oct. 1 deadline since 1994. That failure has resulted in an annual funding crisis each fall in which lawmakers scramble to patch together one massive, hodgepodge spending bill at the last minute to prevent a government shutdown.

"We're trying to get back to the old-fashioned way, one bill at a time," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate. "This is going to take a little bit of cooperation, and maybe even a little bit of self-restraint, something Washington isn't necessarily known for...This is our first test, and believe me, people are watching."

To pass the bills, senators must fend off "poison pill" amendments that undermine bipartisan support for the legislation. The Hoeven amendment defeated Thursday was strongly opposed by Democrats and the White House, which issued a veto threat Wednesday against the bill if the amendment was included.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Hoeven was trying to amend the bill to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from using federal funds to enforce the 2014 Waters of the United States rule, which says that Clean Water Act protections apply to streams and wetlands and not just large water bodies. Critics of the law saw it hurts farmers and other small businesses by imposing costly new regulations on their operations.

Senators brought energy and water spending to the floor first in part because it is a popular bill that funds projects ranging from flood control and port improvements to nuclear security programs. If the Senate cannot pass it, then the prospects for passing the other 11 spending bills are bleak. A vote on final passage of the energy and water bill is slated for early next week.

Although the legislation is now expected to pass, a conservative group warned Republicans to oppose it in part because it does not include the Hoeven amendment and other conservative riders.

"The measure spends too much money, funds too many bad programs, and excludes too many conservative priorities to merit support," said a statement issued Thursday from Heritage Action for America.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the bill is "thoughtful, bipartisan legislation that will ensure a fiscally responsible approach to a variety of issues: things like national security, energy innovation, waterways, and economic development."

The bill is coming to a vote about a month before the Senate normally takes up spending bills. McConnell said he is willing to devote 12 weeks of Senate floor time to passing the 12 spending bills.

"The Republican-led Senate has made important strides to get the legislative process functioning again," McConnell said on the floor Thursday. "We know the impact that can have on restoring the appropriations process. We also know that cooperation is going to be important as we move forward. So it was good to see our Democratic colleagues recently pledge cooperation in the appropriations process, writing that this ‘is a win-win opportunity and we should seize it together.’ "

Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said the bipartisan cooperation on the energy and water bill "signals that we are ready to do regular order...so we don't end up with a big omnibus bill at the end."

"It is an excellent kickoff to what I hope will be the ability to move all 12 bills," she said.

But even if Senate leaders can achieve their ambitious goals, the bills could run into trouble in the House, where avoiding poison pill riders is already proving difficult.

The House Appropriations Committee voted earlier this week to approve an energy and water bill that includes the provision to bar any money from being used to implement the Waters of the United States rule.

The House is expected to start bringing its spending bills to the floor next month. House GOP leaders had hoped to pass a 2017 budget resolution to serve as a blueprint for spending, but they have been unable to reach consensus among Republicans on spending levels.

Congress prepares to move spending bills without budget deal