Congress has had a hard time passing big laws this year.

So it delayed talks on spending, defense, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.

But now it is almost time for the midterm elections.

In these last weeks, the Senate found one thing it agrees on: college sports.

The Senate voted two times this week to move forward on a bill.

The bill would change the rules and the money in college sports.

Supporters say the goal is to control spending.

They also want to stop many court fights.

And they want to bring order back to athletic programs.

They call the current situation a "chaos."

More than 70 senators support the bill.

It still needs to pass the House.

Final votes could happen as soon as next week.

Some Senate critics say the bill is not Congress's most urgent job.

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said lawmakers should work on affordability problems first.

He said the bill puts the federal government too deep into college sports.

He said it could create new problems.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the Senate should focus on other things.

These include a war and a growing cost crisis.

He called the college sports bill "a fake crisis."

He said it does not do enough to protect athletes.

Backers say the bill would keep college costs down.

They say it would give hundreds of thousands of student athletes new health and labor protections.

It would also create one set of rules for all colleges.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is a Republican from South Dakota.

He promised the bill's top sponsors a vote in September.

He said there is "pent-up demand" to fix college sports.

He called college sports "clearly broken."

The bill would limit the money colleges can share with players.

It would add a retention pool to keep current players.

It would let conferences pool TV media rights.

It would also restrict player transfers.

It would make the NCAA's rule into law: players can have no more than five years of eligibility.

It would cap agent fees.

And it would give the NCAA limited antitrust protections.

Labor and civil rights groups oppose the bill.

All four Black Democrats in the Senate voted against it.

Sen. Cory Booker said it gives too much power to the NCAA.

He said there is not enough accountability for players.

But Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware said the bill should give Americans hope.

He said college sports can be stabilized.