Senate Republican Whip Says PNTR Unlikely to Get Vote Before April 25
Sen. John Thune, the South Dakota Republican who serves as his party's top vote-counter, told reporters at the Capitol that a bill to remove permanent normal trade relations status from Russia is stalled in the Senate over one Republican's disagreement on the Magnitsky Act renewal. He said that Democrats are negotiating with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on the language he wants regarding the Magnitsky Act. "They're still trying to negotiate, and hopefully they'll be able to find a path forward, but as of right now, it's hung up, and I don't see that busting loose this week, and next week is the Supreme Court [nomination vote], so it doesn't look like anything's likely to happen on that until after the Easter break."
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Thune noted that the majority leader could bring the bill up for a vote anyway, but without unanimous consent, getting to a vote is a lengthy process that eats up floor time.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a hallway interview that he couldn't talk about those calculations, "but the big point here is I want to pass this as soon as possible, a clean bill, because it will add new economic firepower in the fight against Putin." He said a clean bill would not include a ban on importing Russian oil and gas, it would just cover the tariff issues.