Ouch. Looks like Manchin and WVA getting 🔥 burned badly...
Manchin deal with Schumer to spur oil and gas drilling jeopardized by far-left Democrats
Schumer agreed to press for legislation allowing more drilling permits to get Manchin's vote for a mega-spending bill
Manchin's deal with Schumer for an oil and gas permitting bill in exchange for the WV senator's support for the WH's $739 billion climate change spending and tax hike
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signed into law last week by President Biden, is in jeopardy, as progressives say they are not bound by any agreement and vow to oppose the legislation.
Critics say that Manchin gave up leverage to get the permitting bill through the House by helping D's first pass the Inflation Reduction Act through a party-line process known as budget reconciliation.
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"Manchin was so eager to side with Pres Biden that he shoved spending down America’s throat based on the falsehood that liberals would allow more domestic oil pipelines," Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., told Fox News Digital. "They won't."
Mooney has been pegged as a likely challenger to Manchin's re-election in 2024.
The permitting bill, which has yet to be made public, would set timelines by which environmental agencies must conduct reviews for proposed projects.
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It would also require the federal government to hold more leasing auctions for the right to drill on federal land.
Manchin's biggest prize in the deal, however, is provisions of the expected bill that would catalyze approval of a natural gas pipeline running for more than 300 miles through Virginia and West Virginia. The $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline was started in 2014 and is nearly 90% complete, but has stalled in recent months among environmental lawsuits.
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"The Mountain Valley Pipeline is the only project in the entire country that can bring 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day onto the market in just six months," Manchin said earlier this month when news of the deal first broke. "Completing this pipeline will increase supply, strengthen American energy security and bring down gas prices."
Progressive House Democrats disagree, however. They say the permitting bill desired by Manchin threatens to undercut any climate benefit
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derived from the Inflation Reduction Act.
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"We will be united in defeating the separate Manchin ‘permitting reforms’ that will accelerate climate change and pollute Black, brown, Indigenous and low-income communities," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. "Manchin went back on his word to get BBB done, and we owe him nothing now."
Tlaib and others from the 98-member Congressional Progressive Caucus are pledging to vote against the permitting bill if it comes up for a vote in the House
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The opposition could be costly given that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., can only lose four Democrats on any bill before having to rely on the GOP.
Progressives are also warning House Democratic leaders against trying to slip the permitting bill into a bigger legislative package. They say if the measure comes to the House floor it should be standalone.
Far-left lawmakers are not the only ones taking issue with the permitting bill. Some Senate R's say their votes are not guaranteed,
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especially after Manchin sided with fellow Democrats to advance Biden's tax and climate agenda.
"If you think you're going to get 60 votes to get the sweeteners that can't be done in reconciliation, you need to think long and hard about what you're doing," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Late last month, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) revealed in an analysis that the Inflation Reduction Act would increase taxes by billions of dollars, including on middle-class earners.
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Since the permitting bill was left out of the larger reconciliation package, it will need at least 60 votes to pass the Senate. The tenuous position Manchin finds himself in has GOP critics questioning his image as a skilled dealmaker.
"Joe Manchin sold out West Virginia for a signing pen from President Biden," said Mooney. "He single-handedly restarted the Biden administration’s inflation-causing spending binge."
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@SusanInVA There was some discussion in some quarters that Manchin's "leverage" was he would switch to an independent or a Republican, flipping the Senate.
We'll see.
@Josephcdickerson —He can stay right where he is.
Let Rep. Alex Mooney challenge him in 2024. He’s got plenty of sound bites to beat him with.
@SusanInVA Great post!!