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Congressional leaders said Thursday that legislation to inject billions of dollars into federal biomedical research and ease drug approvals is a main priority for the lame-duck session after the November elections. The measure is one of the biggest pieces of legislation left on the table as lawmakers left town on Thursday to campaign for re-election. The fact that both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) put it on the agenda for the session suggests it has a strong chance of advancing in the weeks after the election. (Hughes and Burton, 9/29)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that a medical cures bill will be a “top priority” in the lame-duck session after the election. “We’ve got about three weeks back here after the election,” McConnell said at a press conference. “My own personal priorities are funding the government and the 21st Century Cures bill, which I think could end up being the most significant piece of legislation we pass in the whole Congress.” (Sullivan, 9/29)

An effort to get the US Senate to pass a so-called Right to Try bill failed Wednesday when Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid blocked the effort, because a hearing was never held to review the legislation and only two of the 42 sponsors was a Democrat. “It hasn’t been through the committee process as we were promised given the outstanding issues dealing with this policy,” Reid, a Nevada Democrat, told the Senate after Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) attempted to win unanimous consent from the Senate for his legislation. “There are major players who have not had an opportunity to say what’s wrong with the bill.” (Silverman, 9/29)

Senate Democratic leaders have ­discouraged their colleagues throughout this year from working with vulnerable Republican senators, according to lawmakers in both parties. The election-year effort is aimed at depriving Republicans of bipartisan achievements they can tout back home. Control of the Senate is up for grabs this year as the GOP seeks to preserve its four-seat majority. Republicans are defending 24 seats while Democrats are only defending 10. There are nine incumbent Republican senators who are in challenging races this fall. (Bolton, 9/29)