Lame-duck legislation and permitting-reform stakes

Congress is positioning for a post-election agenda involving government funding, the NDAA, essential extensions, permitting reform, and potentially the debt limit. A BAAJA Senate permitting proposal would expand FERC transmission-siting authority and address cost allocation, with possible effects on state permitting and offshore-wind lines; it remains a proposal, not enacted law. Other proposed Senate permitting language could expand disparate-treatment litigation, damages exposure, and judicial constraints on agency discretion across energy, mining, and NEPA-related projects.