WASHINGTON — West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin III on Friday defended his decision to pull the plug on his party’s efforts to pass a major climate, energy and tax package this summer. in the year.
Manchin’s comments, in an interview with a West Virginia radio host, were the latest instance where the conservative-leaning senator has raised the possibility that he could end up supporting important parts of President Biden’s agenda, even if he positions himself as the main Democratic leader. impediment to their implementation.
His comments came the day after he indicated in a private conversation with Majority Leader New York Senator Chuck Schumer that if Democrats go ahead with a legislative package this summer as planned, he would not accept climate or energy measures or tax increases on wealthy Americans or corporations.
In the interview with the radio host, Hoppy Kercheval, Mr Manchin said he had told Mr Schumer he wanted to wait to respond to climate and tax proposals until the July inflation figures were public.
“Let’s wait for that to come out so we know we’re going down the path that won’t be incendiary, to add even more inflation,” Mr Manchin said he had told Mr Schumer. He added: “Can’t we wait to make sure we don’t add anything to that? And I can’t really make that decision about taxes of any kind, nor about energy and climate.”
Frequently asked questions about inflation
What is inflation? Inflation is a loss of purchasing power over time, meaning your dollar won’t go as far tomorrow as it did today. It is usually expressed as the annual price change for everyday goods and services such as food, furniture, clothing, transportation, and toys.
Should Democrats push for legislative action before then, Mr. Manchin said they should only respond to proposals aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs and expanding extensive subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. .
That attitude effectively narrowed the chances of taking action on a critical priority for Democrats in the coming days and strongly suggested that unless they ditch climate and tax proposals altogether, they would risk missing out on any part of their signature domestic policy package for the mid-term congressional elections in November. July inflation figures are set for August 10, after the Senate leaves Washington for a five-week summer vacation.
When lawmakers return in September, they will have only a limited period of time to respond to the package. And they like to give themselves as much time as possible to campaign for everything they pass on before the November elections.
The waiting game once again placed Mr Manchin at the center of high-stakes political and policy negotiations for Democrats, who have struggled for months to win his vote on every strand of their once ambitious domestic agenda. They’ve made an effort to adapt to his often-changing dictates and repeatedly scaled back their ambitions to stay within his red lines, but they’ve come away empty-handed on their biggest priorities so far.
Because of the Democrats’ wafer-thin margin of control in the 50-50 Senate and the united Republican opposition to most of their top priorities, Mr. Manchin has an effective veto power over the party’s legislative strategy — and has exercised it often and unabashedly. With political scars from a year of shaky talks, few Democrats on Friday seemed willing to gamble that Mr. Manchin would be willing to return to negotiations and take over climate and energy supplies.
One senator, New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich, mused publicly about whether Mr. Manchin deserved his chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Using the abbreviation for commission, Mr. Heinrich wrote on Twitter“Senator Manchin’s refusal to act is outrageous. I wonder why he is chairman of ENR.” He added: “Now is THE time to face the challenges we will be judged by – by our children, grandchildren and future generations. We cannot wait any longer.”
In the radio interview, Mr Manchin emphasized that he would remain committed to negotiations but would not bow to what he described as a campaign of pressure from his own party.
“I’m where I’ve been – I wouldn’t get my staff through this, I wouldn’t get myself through this if I didn’t sincerely try to find a way forward to do something that’s good for our country,” Mr. Manchin said. “They can’t get a handle on it because I have a ‘D’ by my name or someone has an ‘R’ by their name, we have to do what one side wants. I’m not that.”