Vox: The biggest missed opportunity of the lame-duck Congress so far

The current Democratic trifecta is coming to a close, and Republicans will be taking back power in the House this January. The lame-duck Congress looks to be productive, but one item that has been dropped from its to-do list may come back to haunt Democrats.

Permitting reform — a push by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to change the way big infrastructure projects that involve federal dollars are approved — was a notably divisive proposal that supporters had hoped would pass in the lame duck. But after progressives who opposed the bill, along with top Republicans, united to torpedo it, Democrats decided to pull the proposal out of a must-pass defense bill, essentially killing it. It was a personal loss for Manchin but a potentially bigger one for a key Democratic priority: building out a clean energy infrastructure, and fast.