Senate GOP wants one last win before the midterm break: college sports and data-center power bills. "We're not very functional," one says.

Senate Republicans want one more legislative win to carry onto the campaign trail before they leave Washington until November, USA Today reports, and with just a week left the list is short. It includes a final vote on a bipartisan overhaul of college athletics led by Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, and the Ratepayer Protection Act, which backers say would help protect consumers' energy bills from spiking due to nearby data centers. That legislation already passed the House overwhelmingly, and the Senate version is sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio. Majority Leader John Thune says they may also confirm more nominees, including the head of the Labor Department. Some Republicans are openly frustrated. "We've accomplished quite a bit, but not as much as I wish we could," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota was blunter: "We're not very functional," he said, later adding, "At least we're not socialists." Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana doubts the sports bill moves voters: "I can assure you that moms and dads out there across America, when they lie down to sleep at night, they're not worried about the football coaches." Democrats call the data-center bill too weak. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer labeled it a "fraud" because its requirements are "voluntary," and says Democrats have offered a stronger measure. As a lifelong Democrat, I'll give Cramer credit for candor; few politicians say that out loud in an election year. The fair counterpoint is that Republicans hold the majority and set the calendar, so the frustration is theirs to fix. But my own party has homework, too. If the Husted bill is too weak, put the stronger version up for a vote before the recess. Families don't read bill numbers. They read their power bill. My test is simple: whoever makes that bill smaller gets the credit, and I'll say so.