Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appears to have been caught flat-footed by a deal between Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on a reconciliation bill dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
The bill, a scaled-back alternative to Build Back Better, a sweeping social spending and green energy bill that Manchin killed last year when he objected to its price tag and raised his concerns over inflation, was announced just hours after the Senate passed a bipartisan CHIPS Act on Wednesday, which McConnell previously threatened to tank if Democrats pursued a reconciliation bill.
MANCHIN SAYS BUILD BACK BETTER IS DEAD, ANNOUNCES DEAL ON INFLATION
But the new bill appears to have caught McConnell and Republican leadership by surprise.
“Democrats say all these historic tax hikes are their answer to the inflation they themselves caused,” McConnell said Thursday.
“Our colleagues across the aisle have already completely lost Americans’ trust on the economy, before this reckless taxing and spending spree,” he said. “Apparently, they want to see how much farther they can fall.”
Manchin, who is recovering from COVID-19, denied that the bill was an attempt to outmaneuver Republicans.
“I sure hope they don’t feel that way,” Manchin said, arguing he doesn’t view the bill as a Republican or a Democratic effort.
“The best politics is good government,” he told reporters via Zoom on Thursday.
Manchin said his negotiations were kept quiet because “I wasn’t sure it was going to come to fruition,” but he said he never reversed his position on the matter.
“I don’t think inflation is going to go away anytime soon, but we’ve got to give people relief,” he said.
His colleagues were surprised by the sudden breakthrough.
“I’m stunned but in a good way,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) told CNN.
Some Republicans, however, accused Schumer of duping McConnell by waiting until the CHIPS Act passed the Senate with bipartisan support before unveiling the revived reconciliation legislation. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said the Democrats were “deceitful.”
In response, House GOP leadership reversed course and whipped against the CHIPS legislation set for a vote in House Thursday to provide $52 billion to invest in domestic semiconductor chip production. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) cited the new Manchin-Schumer deal in his notice to Republicans to oppose the legislation.
Shortly before Christmas, Manchin said he would not support the $2.4 trillion Build Back Better bill to the frustration of his Democratic colleagues, who had already trimmed the bill from a previously more expensive version in an attempt to negotiate with him. He also sparked the wrath of liberals who thought the bill should have been larger. Without his support, Democratic leadership was left unable to pass the legislation in the Senate, where they could have otherwise passed the bill using a process called budget reconciliation, which would allow them to do so with only 51 votes.
But the new bill, Manchin argued, is geared at reducing inflation and promoting “an energy policy in this country that works.”
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It remains to be seen whether the deal will reach the president’s desk. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who also objected to the size and scope of the original bill, did not attend a meeting of Democratic senators on Thursday morning and had not publicized her position.
House Democrats currently have a four-seat majority, so in order to pass the bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would need to ensure the support of both her progressive and centrist factions. Centrists may balk at the exclusion of the SALT deductions they sought during the original Build Back Better negotiations to help residents in high-tax states such as New York and California.
