In an unexpected turn Wednesday, Sen. Joe Manchin and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer came to an agreement on legislation that would spend big on energy and climate issues while taxing higher earners and large corporations.
Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, had been a holdout on the legislation, which would also address health care costs and aim at reducing the federal debt, before he made a sudden turnaround.
In a statement, he said he now supported the legislation called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 because “it provides a responsible path forward that is laser-focused on solving our nation’s major economic, energy and climate problems”
The plan would spend $369 billion on energy and climate initiatives and $64 billion to extend expiring federal subsidies for people buying health insurance. That would leave over $300 billion to reduce federal deficits over the decade, Schumer said.
They said the measure would raise $739 billion over 10 years in revenue, the biggest chunk coming from a 15% corporate minimum tax.
The Senate will consider the sweeping package next week, said Schumer (D-NY) and Manchin, who had negotiated for months and had seemed deadlocked over anything but a far smaller measure.
Manchin also said the bill “would dedicate hundreds of billions of dollars to deficit reduction by adopting a tax policy that protects small businesses and working-class Americans while ensuring that large corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.”
“I have worked diligently to get input from all sides on the legislation my Democratic colleagues have proposed,” Manchin said. “and listened to the views of my Republican friends to find a path forward that removes inflationary policies so that Congress can respond to Americans’ suffering from high prices.”
Manchin, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, just last week, said he would only agree to move ahead with lowering prescription drug costs and extending federal subsidies for health care costs. He also said he would be open to a broader deal on the environment and taxes in September once Congress returns from summer recess.
There was no immediate explanation why Manchin had suddenly agreed to the far broader package. In December, his resistance derailed a wide-ranging $3.5 trillion, 10-year social and environment bill that was Biden’s top domestic priority.
But the announcement suddenly presents President Biden and Democrats with the prospect of pushing a major achievement through Congress in the runup to November congressional elections in which Republicans have seemed strongly positioned to capture House control and possibly a majority of the Senate as well.
With Post wires