Congress braces for partisan challenges to advance must-pass legislation

Lawmakers are set to face a number of challenges in overcoming partisan differences and coming to agreements on must-pass legislation as members of Congress settle into their

new committee assignments. Both parties will have a hard time advancing their agendas over the next two years as Republicans hold a slim majority in the House and

Democrats have an even slimmer majority in the Senate. As a result, lawmakers are bracing for likely dragged-out negotiations as they try to get their bills through Congress.

LINDSEY GRAHAM AND REPUBLICAN ANTI-ABORTION LEADERS ENDORSE MCDANIEL FOR RNC CHAIRWOMAN That process is already beginning to play out. House Republicans passed the Born

Alive Abortion Survivors Act last week, seeking to implement medical protections for fetuses that survive abortions. The bill passed the House in a 220-210 vote, with only one

Democrat joining Republicans in backing the measure. However, some Republicans criticized the bill’s passage as a waste of time. They argued it would never pass the

Democratic-controlled Senate. “It’s never going to pass the Senate. It’s never going to get to the president’s desk to be signed into law,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) told

reporters in early January. “If you want to make a difference and reduce the number of abortions with a Democrat-controlled Senate, the No. 1 issue we should be working

on is access to birth control,” she said. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has also pledged to veto much of the Republican agenda — especially proposals to revoke funding

for the IRS and abolish the federal tax agency.