Reid won't commit to scheduling vote to block EPA climate rules

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday it is not clear whether he will schedule a lame-duck vote on Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s (D-W.Va.) bill that would block looming Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse gas rules for two years.

Reid earlier this year pledged to Rockefeller that he would bring up the measure. But the Nevada senator told reporters in the Capitol Tuesday that it’s unclear if there’s enough time in the lame-duck session.

“We are at a critical time here. It is real hard just to say ‘yeah, we can do this,’ because we have limited time to go through all the procedural motions. But if there is a way we can do it, I will be happy to work with him,” Reid said.

The two lawmakers are planning to meet Tuesday on the matter.

Rockefeller hinted earlier Tuesday that he will blame Republicans – not Reid – if the vote doesn’t come to pass in the waning weeks of this Congress.

“Maybe they will shut everything down so we can’t do anything,” Rockefeller told reporters, echoing his comments Monday.

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