Oct. 9, 2024, 5:35 p.m.
More than 18 months after a train derailment spilled toxic waste near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, prompting evacuations, the federal government has yet to pass train and railway safety legislation officials promised would happen. And lawmakers are not currently on track to do so by the end of the year.
In February 2023, a Norfolk Southern train was carrying vinyl chloride and other hazardous chemicals when it slipped the tracks and crashed into a fiery mess. The train wreck, consisting of 38 railcars that derailed in the small Ohio city of East Palestine, caused ecological damage and forced out thousands of residents as some of those railcars burned for days.
In response, senators from Ohio introduced the Railway Safety Act, which would increase the frequency of railcar inspections and create stricter safety requirements for trains carrying hazardous materials. But despite strong bipartisan momentum out the gate and passage out of the Senate Commerce committee just a few months later, the bill has yet to receive a vote on the Senate floor.
Lawmakers don’t have a consensus as to who—or what—is to blame for the bill stalling. Some point to politics: The bill unintentionally became embroiled in electoral politics because of the duo leading the legislation. Republican Sen. J.D. Vance is now running as former President Trump’s running mate and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, one of the majority’s most vulnerable incumbents, is in a battle for his own reelection.
Passing the legislation could have provided both senators with an opportunity to score a political win. But now with senators out until after the election, neither Brown nor Vance will get a chance to brandish rail safety on their candidate resumes.
Mostly, the lawmakers blame each other for the impasse.
Vance has maintained that he had secured the Republican votes behind closed doors needed to bypass a legislative filibuster. All Democratic-voting senators are said to be in favor of the bill.
“I have received private assurances from Republican colleagues that we have the votes to pass the Rail Safety Act,” Vance said in February—well before he was chosen as Trump’s running mate—contending that he believed it would “get more than 60 votes.”
Some aides familiar with the negotiations told National Journal that if the legislation were to be brought to the Senate floor, they believe it would likely reach the 60 votes needed to bypass a legislative filibuster.
However, more skeptical staffers question whether the minimum nine other Republican votes existed, pointing to the fact that just six—including Vance—have signed on as cosponsors. Sen. Eric Schmitt, not listed as a cosponsor, was the only other Republican to vote in favor of the measure in committee. This is despite the former president adamantly supporting the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in early September wrote a letter to his colleagues listing rail safety as a remaining priority in 2024, saying they'd “need republican cooperation” to do so.
In a recent interview with Spectrum News, Schumer said if Vance could provide the “10 Republicans [to get to 60], it would be great. A lot of the Republicans are listening to the railroad industry, and we have said, and [Vance and Brown] agreed to this, two trainmen on a car, on a train, but a lot of the Republican leadership's against it.”
“That is, I think, what stymied the bill,” he continued.
The powerful rail industry lobby has lobbied against the legislation and further regulations, including a provision that would require all trains to have a minimum of two crew members aboard. It would also substantially increase the fines for violating these safety rules. Several Republican senators have also echoed those concerns, saying the legislation would be overly regulatory—and costly.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, who was once a lobbyist for the industry, has also drawn into question the regulatory perimeters in the legislation.
“This bill should have been about safety reforms relevant to the derailment in East Palestine, but now it’s been expanded to a stalking horse for onerous regulatory mandates and union giveaways,” Thune said on the day of the committee vote. He ended up voting against the bill.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and most of GOP leadership are also reportedly against the legislation. Thune is also running for GOP Senate Leader to replace McConnell, who is stepping down as conference leader.
And it is that questionable GOP whip count, starting with leadership and going down, that some staff point to as the reason that Schumer hasn’t brought it up for a vote on the Senate floor.
Both Brown and Vance blame Schumer for the delay and maintain he should bring the legislation up for a vote, a position they have held since before Vance became the VP nominee.
Some aides also are critical of Schumer, saying the majority leader has had no reservation putting up legislation this year touching on politically thorny areas, like in-vitro fertilization access, that had no chance of GOP passage or support.
“I've been clear: Leader Schumer needs to put the Railway Safety Act on the floor—as soon as possible. Every senator should have to say whether they stand with the big railroads or the people of East Palestine. I disagree with Leader Schumer’s decision not to put our bill up for a vote, and I believe when the Senate votes on our legislation, it will pass,” Brown said in a statement to National Journal.
At a rally in September in Wisconsin, Vance blamed Schumer for not bringing the bill up for a vote.
“The most significant bipartisan legislation to get out of any committee the last few years in the United States Senate was a railway safety bill that I authored with some of my Democratic colleagues,” Vance said. “That bill, right now, could pass the United States Senate. Chuck Schumer is not bringing it up because he’s not interested in making policy.”
Lawmakers will only have one more opportunity to ride the bill into the station this year: the lame duck session.
Once senators return in November after the election, they will have five weeks before the year’s end. However, free floor time will be limited as they will need to pass an end-of-year spending package, as well as the National Defense Authorization Act and, possibly, a farm bill.
Washington also will have to navigate the results of the Nov. 5 election, which could flip party control of the White House, Senate, and House. If the White House or Senate flip to Republican control, much of the remaining calendar could also be swallowed up by Democrats trying to shovel through as many judicial nominees as possible before Biden leaves office.
Some offices are eying the likely omnibus spending package as a vehicle for the safety legislation, if it were to get a ride out of Washington, but no decisions have been made, yet.
National Journal reached out to Schumer’s office for a response and did not hear back before this article was published.
House versions of the legislation may also be at a dead end, despite bipartisan support.
There is a sense of anxiety among supporters that the bill could be delayed indefinitely if Republicans win control of the Senate, increasingly likely given the current political map. One of those seats could be Brown's. Vance would also be out of the Senate picture if Trump wins.
Vance could push the legislation from his perch as vice president. But he’d have less say about what makes it to the floor for a vote. If the GOP does regain control of the Senate floor, opposition to the rail safety bill within the GOP leadership ranks could leave the legislation unable to reach its final destination.
