Global Courant 2023-04-25 20:10:49
Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., says he would support repeal of a sweeping bill he negotiated last year with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., that includes key climate, health and tax provisions if the Biden administration that does not change course in pushing fossil fuel investment into legislation.
During an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday night, Manchin noted that $384 billion from the so-called Inflation Reduction Act had been allocated for energy security.
“Now they’ve completely ignored that, which was agreed — and they know exactly what we agreed,” Manchin said. “This was energy security and you haven’t heard the word energy security from their mouths since it was adopted. It’s all about the environment.”
Manchin said he would vote to repeal the IRA if the Biden administration continues down that path.
“Let me make it very clear: if this government doesn’t do what it said it would do, and in fact continue to liberalize … I will do everything I can to prevent that from happening,” Manchin said.
“And if they don’t change, then I would vote to withdraw my own bill,” he added.
The bill passed on a party line last year, and Manchin’s support for its provisions could be critical in the narrowly divided Senate.
Manchin’s comments come amid a standoff between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden to avoid a possible default on the US debt in the coming months. McCarthy released a debt limit bill last week that he hopes to pass with Republican support, but it remains unclear whether he has the votes for his plan to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending. Democrats have united against McCarthy’s plan, and some of the 20 hard-right conservatives — who initially prevented McCarthy from winning the speakership earlier this year — have threatened to vote against it this week.
In a op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal last month, Manchin argued that the Biden administration is “determined to pursue an ideological agenda rather than confront the clear and current danger that debt and deficit pose to our nation.”
“In particular, they ignore the law’s intent to support and expand fossil energy and are redefining ‘household energy’ to increase clean energy spending to potentially deficit-breaking levels,” he added. “The administration is trying every step of the way to implement the bill it wanted, not the bill Congress actually passed.”
“I believe that the only person who can curb this extremism is Mr. Biden,” Manchin wrote, calling for Biden to sit down with “tax-minded Republicans and Democrats to negotiate commonsense-based reforms to create a… fiscal policy that got out of hand. ”
Manchin, who is up for re-election next year but has yet to formally announce his plans for 2024, struck a major deal with Schumer on the Inflation Reduction Act last year after he unexpectedly reversed his opposition to quickly introduce the broad filibuster-proof bill. The deal marked a major breakthrough for parts of Biden’s agenda, including raising taxes for some high earners and investing in energy security and climate change.
