>"There’s been a ramped-up or increased pace of meetings this week in exploring a bunch of different ways to increase support for Shaheen-Portman, especially among Republicans," added a Democratic Senate aide. "There have been discussions about amendments being one way to do that." Still, the aide emphasized that no single strategy has been set in stone.

Another Republican aide echoed that behind-the-scenes work has been ongoing. "Portman is working to get bipartisan agreements to get to 60 votes," said the staffer, singling out Hoeven as a potential key vote. "Hoeven’s a guy that a lot of folks look to," agreed another Senate staffer, adding that there are already at least 59 potential yes votes for the bill.

All the aides agreed that hitting the 60-vote threshold would greatly increase the likelihood that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would move the bill. "If folks can make a case that there’s a lot of support for this, then that makes it easier to bring it back to the floor," said the Democratic aide.<