Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va., said Sunday that criticism of his ostensible 180 on the Inflation Reduction Act is “ridiculous.”
Manchin appeared on “Fox News Sunday” after last week denouncing the “political malpractice” of the Biden administration in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, arguing that they “explained the debt and deficit implications” of the Inflation Reduction Act ignored.
In the op-ed headlined “Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Betrayal,” Manchin said the Biden administration is “determined to violate and undermine the law to advance a partisan agenda that ignores both energy and fiscal security.”
“The administration is trying every step of the way to implement the bill it wanted, not the bill Congress actually passed. Ignoring the debt and deficit implications of these actions as the time approaches to raise the debt ceiling is not only wrong, it is also policy and politics malpractice,” he wrote.
Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va., speaks at the CERAWeek By S&P Global conference in Houston on March 10, 2023. (Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The op-ed drew criticism from the right, including from Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey, who said Manchin could use a dose of self-reflection.
“Manchin wants to distance himself from the government he made possible with the Inflation Reduction Act, and really wants to distance himself from its results, but that is impossible,” Morrissey wrote. “The vote on the IRA came down to Manchin; Manchin negotiated the terms; and Manchin endorsed his policies and the lack of scrutiny the legislation had over (President Joe) Biden’s use of the bill. If Manchin wants to talk about ‘political malpractice “Maybe he should look in the mirror.”
Manchin responded to Morrissey’s criticism of Fox News, calling it “ridiculous”.
“Well, that’s ridiculous,” he said. “I mean, from the point of view – we write pieces of legislation, we expect the administration to abide by the intent and how we wrote it. It’s in the bill, read the bill. So anyone who has that opinion has the bill Unread .”
The Republican National Committee’s (RNC) inquiry Twitter account stressed that Manchin rejected Morrissey’s comments.
Senator Joe Manchin, left, wrote an op-ed in the WSJ on Thursday alleging that the Biden administration’s implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act is “political malpractice.” (Reuters / Elizabeth Frantz / Dossier | Reuters / Jonathan Ernst / Dossier)
Senator Joe Manchin (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images/File)
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In his op-ed, Manchin called on the president to implement the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed in August 2022, as it was written.
“Mr. Biden has been chosen to lead all of us in solving problems. We cannot allow them to get worse by ignoring them. The president today has the power to order his administration to follow the law, sit down with congressional leaders and negotiate meaningful, serious reforms to the federal budget,” he wrote.
Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck, Gabriel Hayes, and Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.
Jessica Chasmar is a digital writer on the Fox News and Fox Business political team. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
