Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenWarren, Schumer introduce plan for next president to cancel ,000 in student debt The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Don't expect a government check anytime soon No new taxes for the ultra rich — fix bad tax policy instead MORE is tying a long-brewing battle over the Puerto Rico financial crisis to an energy bill currently before the Senate.

The Massachusetts Democrat is offering an amendment to a wide-ranging energy reform bill from Sen.(R-Alaska). Warren's proposal would help temporarily protect Puerto Rico from debt collectors until April 1.

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The senators argue that "a temporary stay on litigation is essential to facilitate an orderly process for stabalizing, evaluating, and comprehensively resolving" Puerto Rico's crisis.

A vote on the amendment hasn't been scheduled, but trying to link the two issues would place a deeply partisan fight into an otherwise uncontroversial energy bill.

"If Congress doesn't act and give Puerto Rico the chance to restructure its debt, schools will shutter, utilities will be switched off, the sputtering economy will grind to a halt. It will be a nightmare, a nightmare," Schumer told reporters Wednesday.

Puerto Rican officials have been pushing lawmakers for months to take up legislation, with Democrats arguing that Congress accidentally withheld bankruptcy power from territories when it rewrote part of the U.S. code.

While both sides pledged to work together, Hatch suggested this week that huge policy and political gaps remain.

"I haven't heard much from the other side, but I'm prepared to work on it," he told reporters.

Hatch added that Democrats have focused on allowing Puerto Rico access to bankruptcy courts—a move he doesn't support.

McConnell, who hasn't signed onto the GOP legislation, suggested that while lawmakers were broadly concerned about the Puerto Rico fiscal crisis, what Congress should do about it is unclear.

"We have a lot of discussion about what to do and as long as it doesn't involve the use of federal tax dollars, I think it is something we ought to try to figure out some way forward on," he told reporters on Wednesday. "Exactly what the way forward is at this point, I'm not sure."