Senate Republicans are on a collision course with Democrats who are insisting that nondefense spending programs receive equal treatment with defense programs.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) says he won’t accept Democrats’ demand to give nondefense programs the same increases — dollar for dollar — as defense programs, which he said should be considered a much higher priority.

“I can’t accept that at all,” McConnell said last week of dollar-for-dollar parity between defense and nondefense spending increases.

As Congress rushes to vote on a 4,155-page spending bill that Members will never read, one piece of good news is that the omnibus contains a revision of the Electoral Count Act (ECA). But the moment shouldn’t pass without noting that the Senate is acting in a way that lets individual Members dodge accountability for their vote.

The U.S. Congress is poised to pass legislation that would tighten the way presidential elections are certified, aiming to prevent a repeat of the chaos that followed Donald Trump's 2020 presidential defeat.

Here are details on the Electoral Count Reform Act, which lawmakers included in a year-end government funding bill:

AIMS TO PREVENT ANOTHER JAN. 6

Following months of bipartisan negotiations, lawmakers agreed on an important overhaul of the Electoral Count Act that will strengthen the system against future attacks and possible mischief. The challenge was figuring out how to pass it.

This week, Congress is expected to approve a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package, and to the relief of reformers, the Electoral Count Act overhaul will be included in the legislation. It might pass the Senate as early as today.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer moved Monday for a floor vote later this week on bipartisan legislation to codify the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage rights into law following a months-long impasse.

The New York Democrat teed up a procedural vote for Wednesday that will require 60 votes to advance to final passage as early as this week.

Senate Democrats are expected to introduce a revised version of the Respect for Marriage Act this week. The bill, which would enshrine same-sex marriage rights into law, will need support from at least 10 Republican senators in order to become law.

“We’re confident that we’ll have the votes when it comes to the floor. We’ve been guaranteed that this is going to come up before January,” an unnamed person, identified as being “close to negotiations,” told the international news outlet Semafor.