Senator Joe Manchin announced Wednesday that he had reached an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had eluded them for months, on health care costs, energy and climate issues.
The package will be paid for by closing tax loopholes for wealthy individuals and large corporations, Schumer and Manchin said in announcing the deal.
The health, tax and energy package must be reviewed by the Senate parliamentarian to go through the budget reconciliation process, which allows Democrats to pass the measure with 50 votes. In a joint statement, Schumer and Manchin said “the revised legislative text will be presented to the House for review tonight and the full Senate will consider it next week.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement Wednesday that he had spoken with Manchin and Schumer and supported the deal.
“If enacted, this legislation will be historic, and I urge the Senate to introduce this bill as soon as possible and for the House to follow suit,” Biden said.
Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat whose resistance had long derailed sweeping legislation on the issues, abruptly revealed the deal in a press release, followed by a joint statement with Schumer.
Patrick Semansky / AP
Manchin’s announcement came hours after the Senate passed the Chips and Science Act, a bill to subsidize investments in domestic semiconductor chip production. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had threatened to block the semiconductor bill if Democrats continued to pursue party-line reconciliation legislation.
“From there, the debate on a future reconciliation bill or any specific legislation must focus on supporting the everyday working Americans we have been elected to serve,” Manchin said in a statement. . “I support the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 because it offers a responsible path forward that focuses on solving our nation’s major economic, energy and climate problems. The question for my colleagues is whether they are willing to put aside their electoral politics and embrace it. the common-sense approach that the overwhelming majority of the American people support and will best serve the future of this nation.”
According to a one-page description of Schumer and Manchin’s legislation, the bill would invest $369 billion in energy security and climate change and extend the Affordable Care Act program for three years. In addition, the legislation would grant Medicare the ability to negotiate prescription drug prices.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren signaled the deal’s finality on Wednesday.
“The good news here is that it’s Senator Manchin who is announcing a deal, not that they’re close to a deal or that there are parts of a deal,” he said.
Progressives also seemed optimistic, tweeting“We will have to evaluate the details, but he promises that a deal to meet these issues could finally be within reach.”
Republicans immediately criticized Manchin’s deal. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called it “Manchin’s New Build Back Broke Bill.”
“Senate Democrats can rename Build Back Broke as many times as they want, it won’t be any less devastating to American families and small businesses,” Cornyn said. “Raising taxes on job creators, crushing energy producers with new regulations and stifling innovators looking for new cures will only make this recession worse, not better.”
— CBS News’ Jack Turman and Nikole Killion contributed to this report
