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Democrats are in lockstep for a Friday passage of the Inflation Reduction Act just as new July economic numbers revealed slightly improving inflation.
“I don’t know of any Democrats that are going to defect, but I’m not the whip,” House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) told reporters after Wednesday’s hearing on the legislation.
Inflation decreasing from 9.1% in June to 8.5% in July will likely sway few, if any, votes on the budget reconciliation bill, as Democrats had already locked in enough support to pass the climate and healthcare legislation along party lines. Passed in the evenly divided Senate on Sunday with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote, the bill cleared another hurdle Wednesday with approval from the Rules Committee before it heads to a vote in the House on Friday.
INFLATION TICKS DOWN TO 8.5%, BOLSTERING HOPES IT MAY BE CRESTING
“If you can get Bernie Sanders and Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer and Kyrsten Sinema to agree on, you know, to vote for something, you know, however imperfect it may be from whatever vantage point you’re at, I’ve got to believe it’s going to pass,” McGovern said. “I don’t expect the Republicans to vote for it because they’ve all been told they can’t … but I’m going to tell you that I don’t want — I wouldn’t want to go home and explain to my constituents why I voted against lowering their prescription drug costs.”
Democrats were pleased with the news of Wednesday’s consumer price index report that showed inflation had not worsened over the past month, though it still remains the highest in 40 years. Democratic lawmakers say it only strengthens their reasons to pass the IRA, as they say it will further decrease what consumers are paying for energy and food.
“ZERO percent inflation in July,” said House Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who has been stumping for the bill despite it lacking some provisions her caucus wanted. “Real wages up for the first time in almost a year. Now, let’s pass Inflation Reduction Act & reduce healthcare and energy costs even more.”
Republicans have maintained their focus on high prices of consumer goods that persist despite a slightly better month for inflation. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) tweeted the price increase for basic foods in the past year, blaming it on President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. GOP leaders have instructed their party to vote against the bill, following the lead of all 50 Republican senators.
https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1557416737200431104
Even skeptics of the original Build Back Better agenda quickly got on board with the scaled-back version that constitutes the IRA. Centrist Democrats who support uncapping the state and local tax deduction, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), said they would still support the final bill even without the SALT provision. Rep. Jared Golden (ME), the only House Democrat who voted against Build Back Better last year and has not yet signaled his stance on the IRA, did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request to his office for comment.
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McGovern echoed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who said after the IRA passed in the Senate that he expected it to easily pass the House with broad Democratic support.
“When all of the 50 Democrats in the Senate vote for the bill, including the progressive wing, you know, Bernie [Sanders] and Elizabeth [Warren] and Eddie Markey and people like that, and the more conservative wing, I think it’s going to set a tableau for the House,” Schumer said Sunday after an all-night vote session on the bill. “That will make it much easier for the House to pass.”
