Thune hopes EPA vote will ‘deliver a message’

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) acknowledged Wednesday that Republicans won’t win the 60 votes needed to kill EPA climate change rules during today's debate, but he expressed hope that a majority vote would help strike a blow against regulation.

The Senate is expected to reject Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) amendment Wednesday to small-business legislation that would thwart EPA's power to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants, refineries and other sources.

But with the House on pace to pass the same measure later Wednesday, Thune hopes the two votes will be a political victory that feeds future efforts to block the rules.

“It would be nice to get a majority vote,” Thune told reporters in the Capitol Wednesday. “If they [the House] get a majority vote, and if we can get a majority vote for McConnell’s amendment — obviously it won’t get to 60 here — I think it would hopefully deliver a message that hopefully would be listened to,” he added of McConnell’s amendment, which will be voted on this afternoon.

“We will keep coming at it different ways, appropriations bills. There are lots of different ways to skin a cat,” added Thune, a member of the GOP leadership team.