Senate Majority Leader John Thune has lined up a series of doomed votes for Wednesday, putting Democrats on the record on energy prices and congressional stock trading.

The votes include the Ratepayer Protection Act, aimed at shielding consumers from electricity rate hikes driven by data centres, and the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would bar lawmakers from trading stocks.

Both measures are expected to fall to the 60-vote filibuster threshold, with Democrats blocking the energy bill and Republicans divided on the trading ban. Thune’s move is widely seen as midterm messaging rather than legislating.

Democrats accused Republicans of staging show votes instead of negotiating real solutions, while the GOP said the votes would force vulnerable incumbents to take unpopular stands before November. The stock-trading ban has drawn rare bipartisan public support but faces quiet resistance from members of both parties who trade actively. Ethics watchdogs said even a failed vote puts lawmakers on record, giving voters a clear data point ahead of November.