On Tuesday, Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) called on Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) to remove authorizing reform language from an interim government funding bill , bowing to the fact that there was too much opposition to the measure.
Republicans in the Senate as well as Democrats in the House had expressed opposition to the language, and Democrats in the Senate did not appear to have the 60 votes needed to continue.
The Liberals did not like the measure for political reasons. Republicans also expressed political disagreement, but many also said they did not want to hand Manchin a major political victory.
Schumer, in a floor speech, blamed Republicans for the measure’s failure.
“Senate Republicans have made it clear that they will block legislation to fund government if it includes bipartisan reform authorizing reform because they have chosen to filibuster instead of working bipartisanly to achieve something they have long claimed to want to do,” Schumer said, according to a transcript of his remarks.
“Because American families should not be subject to a Republican-made government shutdown, Senator Manchin asked, and I agreed, to go ahead and pass the continuing resolution legislation recently. filed without the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022,” he said. said.
In his own statement, Manchin did not explicitly blame either party, saying “It is unfortunate that members of the United States Senate are allowing politics to endanger our nation’s energy security.”
“A failed vote on something as critical as comprehensive licensing reform only serves to embolden leaders like Putin who wish to see America fail. For that reason and my firm belief that we should never be at the edge of a government shutdown for politics, I have asked Majority Leader Schumer to remove the authorizing language from the continuing resolution we will be voting on tonight,” he added.
Schumer and Manchin previously agreed to include the reforms in the interim funding bill, called the Continuing Resolution, as a condition of Manchin’s support for the Democrats’ climate, tax and health care bill, the law. on reducing inflation.
This larger law was signed into law in August after Manchin’s dramatic announcement of the deal with Schumer.
But the political victory left Senate Republicans with a bad taste.
Republicans said they felt betrayed after Manchin and Schumer announced an agreement on the Cut Inflation Act, which was moved under special rules avoiding a filibuster.
GOP senators had threatened to oppose a bipartisan semiconductor bill if Democrats went ahead with the larger bill. The deal between Schumer and Manchin was announced shortly after the semiconductor bill passed the Senate, providing a sting to the GOP.
Changes to the environmental inspection process have also met resistance from progressives, who argued it would speed up fossil fuel production and undermine important reviews of projects that could cause pollution and harm local communities.
Dozens of House Democrats had expressed opposition to the language.
The spending bill is now expected to pass through the Senate and House this week.
What happens next with Schumer’s promise to Manchin is much less clear.
Lawmakers could try to add it to another piece of legislation later this year, but this month’s deadlock shows it won’t be easy.
Manchin’s proposal would have sought to speed up the schedule for environmental reviews, required the president to select 25 priority projects to be accelerated, and given the federal government more authority over electric transmission lines.
It was also expected to win approval for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would transport natural gas from the home state of Manchin.
Some of the licensing reform opponents celebrated its removal from the funding bill.
“Across the country, poor communities, communities of color and Indigenous communities have been repeatedly burned by the shortcuts and broken promises of polluting industries. Having to vote for a bill that would worsen this status quo by eviscerating public input and accelerating dangerous projects like the Mountain Valley pipeline would have been unconscionable,” said a statement from Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona) that led the Progressive Opposition in the House.
“I look forward to voting on a clean continuing resolution to keep our government open. There is a lot of work to be done to keep moving forward with the momentum of the Biden administration in the fight against climate change. and environmental injustices. We have no time for unnecessary shutdowns,” he added.
Updated at 5:50 p.m.