The exchanges recall the feuding on the ethics bill, which lingered for days and drew considerable notice, given Mr. McCain's tone to a colleague.
Initially, Mr Scott's victory, and the loss of the filibuster-proof majority, seemed to have doomed that bill to a lingering death in the Senate, where every single Republican opposed it.
These bills have lingered in committee, even as the problem continues to grow globally.
As a result, Senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, might remain majority leader for the first two weeks of the lame-duck session, which will deal with creating a Homeland Security Department, passing several crucial appropriations bills and considering lingering issues like terrorism insurance and a new bankruptcy code.
Mr. Lazio, the former congressman who lost the Senate race to Hillary Rodham Clinton last year, dispatched a letter this week asking some of his most loyal donors to help him repay his lingering campaign bills.
A patients' bill of rights, which is lingering in Congress, would make this practice illegal; insurance company executives insisted that it was more often the result of poor billing practices by hospitals than anything sinister on their part.
Days before, Republicans introduced a bill requiring future presidential candidates to verify their place of birth before they can appear on the Arizona ballot, a measure that stems from lingering doubts among some "birthers" about President Obama's citizenship.
Senator John Bennett, the Senate co-president, easily defeated a conservative challenger despite lingering accusations that he double-billed clients at his law firm.
On Friday, in a sign of lingering uncertainty over the emergency spending bill, officials at the state's major agencies began circulating instructions to some of the state's roughly 200,000 workers detailing how to manage a shutdown.
Lingering doubts about fate of the tax bill all but vanished on Monday after two of the last Senate Republican holdouts, Susan Collins and Mike Lee, agreed to support the legislation.
