The House is embarking on its last days in session before breaking for the midterms, with a final vote expected Wednesday on a bill ratcheting up penalties on Russia.
The procedural vote teeing up the final tally on the sanctions bill inflamed intraparty tensions when two purple-district Democrats, Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Jared Golden of Maine, once again broke ranks and voted with Republicans.
The White House privately reached out to some Democratic lawmakers to sway them on the procedural vote with promises like infrastructure projects, according to one lawmaker.
The Senate also advanced the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, which the chamber will now be focused on for a few days before it passes.
There are already rumors of the Senate breaking for campaign season early, but Republican leadership still wants to confirm nominees and complete some regulatory rollbacks.
And Republicans still want to pass Ohio Sen. Jon Husted’s data center-focused Ratepayer Protection Act.
“Who’s going to vote against it?” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “Jon’s in a tough race and it’s pretty good populist stuff.”