Sen. Joe Manchin said he had a “good conversation” with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Tuesday as he tries to persuade the final Democratic holdout to support a crucial health care, climate and tax package this week before lawmakers break for their August recess.
“She’ll make her decision based on the facts,” Manchin told reporters on Tuesday, saying that he’s “relying on that.”
Washington’s attention has remained focused on the Arizona Democrat for nearly a week, after a surprise deal between Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer and Manchin that revived legislation with massive implications for the Biden administration’s agenda and Democrats’ midterm push in November.
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Schumer said during a news conference on Tuesday that he is “in touch” with Sinema and hopeful that Democrats can stay united on the bill.
The Arizona moderate has been Sen. Joe Manchin’s other hold-out half in a 50-50 Senate where even one lawmaker has the power to derail months-long negotiations and legislative priorities.
The filibuster-proof massive spending package, which requires the support of all 50 Democratic senators along with the vice president’s tie-breaking vote, includes provisions to tackle inflation, prescription drug prices, energy costs, corporate taxes and would mark a historic investment in climate protections. But Sinema, who previously showed support for addressing climate change and reached a deal with Democrats to lower prescription drug prices last year, has opposed a tax portion of the bill – the carried interest loophole – which allows investment managers to pay a lower tax rate on their income.
In a surprise reversal last week, Manchin, who had previously opposed climate portions of the legislation, pledged his support for the package, which he said would “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.”
But without Sinema’s support, the breakthrough moment that Democrats had waited months for would have little meaning.
Nevertheless, appearing on at least five political talk shows over the weekend, the West Virginia Democrat seemed hopeful that Sinema would be on board.
“When she looks at the bill and sees the whole spectrum of what we’re doing and all of the energy we’re bringing in all of the reduction of prices and fighting inflation by bringing prices down, by having more energy – hopefully, she will be positive about it,” Manchin told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, adding on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she will have “tremendous input” in the legislation.
Sinema and her team have refused to answer questions from reporters about her stance on the legislation since Manchin announced his support, saying that she’s waiting to see the language of the bill and the rulings from the Senate parliamentarian.
The Arizona Democrat’s forthcoming decision puts members of her party in a precarious position, coupled with expected logistical hurdles to grapple with from the Senate parliamentarian. The parliamentarian will weigh the final bill to see if it is in compliance with the procedural maneuver called reconciliation, which allows passage of certain budget-related legislation on a simple majority rather than the 60 votes ordinarily required to end debate.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are expected to vote as a bloc against the bill, dubbed the Inflation Protection Act, arguing that it would raise taxes for many Americans. Manchin argued that in “normal times,” Republicans would be in favor of the bill, noting previous GOP support on components of the bill, such as increasing energy production, accelerating permitting for oil and gas drilling and paying down the deficit.
But with little-to-no hope of securing a single Republican vote, even with Sinema’s support, Democrats will likely hold their breath in the coming days as they have struggled to wrangle all 50 Democrats in recent weeks amid bouts of COVID-19 and other limitations against the backdrop of a looming deadline before August recess.
