Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., winks as she jokes with other senators on the Senate Banking Committee ahead of a hearing on the nomination of Marvin Goodfriend to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

After Red State and others reported that House Democrats planned to push through a controversial Indian casino bill supported by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren without debate or even a committee recommendation, Democrats in the House hurriedly backtracked and scheduled a hearing on the bill for this week.

House Republicans kicked up enough of a storm when the Democrats’ clandestine plan came to light and Republican leadership managed to get Warren’s bill removed from the suspension calendar two weeks ago. Now the question turns to whether thee Republicans will fight to kill the bill hen it is heard before the Indigenous People’s subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday.

Capitol Hill sources tell us that Democrats are working to keep Warren herself at bay during the public debate over the measure. They recognize her presidential campaign, with its embarrassing and phony pretense of Native American ancestry, have become a liability for the cause of the Mashpee Wampanoag and their casino.

With or without Warren as the principal spokesperson, though, the casino bill faces long odds. The Wampanoag history with the Jack Abramoff scandal still bothers some lawmakers. And the tribe is confronting serious financial problems brought about due to alleged financial mismanagement. Genting, the Malaysian consortium backing the tribe and footing the lobbying bill, faces “political and legal tangles at home, combined with business ills abroad.” We are also hearing the Genting has grown frustrated with the expense and so-far futile lobbying effort.