The bill has been a political burden since Sen. Joe Manchin III, a conservative West Virginia Democrat, cast a key vote last year on the anti-inflation bill, giving President Biden his biggest congressional victory yet. It’s becoming
Mr. Manchin’s poll numbers in the coal-rich state, with a strong Republican Party, fell last year after he played a key role in drafting climate change, health and tax bills. Since then, he has worked to rebrand the Environmental Protection Act, telling voters that it will not only fight climate change but also secure fossil fuel production in the United States.
The senator, who is seeking re-election next year and is eager to run for his own presidency, has declared a kind of legislative war against the bill that helped him through Congress. He has publicly expressed his dissatisfaction and disappointment with the “radical climate change policies” he says are driving the Biden administration’s enforcement of the law. And he remains frustrated that his colleagues didn’t make efforts to expedite permitting energy projects one of his top priorities.
Manchin appeared on Fox News last month, threatening to vote to repeal the bill, saying, “I’m going to vote to repeal my bill,” and demanding that some provisions of the bill be withdrawn. created a common cause with the Republican Party. in exchange for a higher credit limit.
And Manchin, who enjoys his role as a bipartisan consensus-builder on the Capitol, also had a one-on-one discussion with Speaker Kevin McCarthy about possible compromises on debt ceilings, including energy permits. A possible commonality has emerged in discussions with White House and congressional officials.
“For the benefit of our country, we absolutely need to get licensing reform,” Manchin said.
His position reflects his political vulnerability and at least one sidetracking in bipartisan debt negotiations.
For now, the senator appears to be on the road to war with the Biden administration over its signature domestic policy law. That projected cost has exploded as the administration launched tax credits granted to electric vehicles in legislation. Manchin complained that the credits were unnecessary and wasteful, and accused the administration of delaying approval of leases for domestic energy production.
Manchin, who has a personal financial interest in the coal industry, also pledged last week: Block all Environmental Protection Agency candidates Over proposals to set emissions targets for power plants.
“We’re not letting them go,” he said last week. “We are going to shut everything down.”
The situation creates a political challenge for Manchin’s party. Democrats are very keen to see him running for re-election if they have a realistic hope of retaining the seat and a narrow Senate majority. He has yet to commit to making it happen, even though two Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Jim Justice, have said they want to make it happen.
Instead, Mr. Manchin is openly cheating on himself to run for president with Mr. Biden on behalf of “No Labels,” a political group backed by wealthy donors who describe themselves as centrist groups. The party hopes to create the possibility for Mr. Manchin and other centrists to run as independent candidates under the party’s banner, and has sent presidential ballots to Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Utah. gained access.
Shortly after Mr. Justice ran for the Senate, Mr. Manchin declared, “Don’t get me wrong, I will win every election.”
Democrats view Manchin’s chances of running for president as disastrous for the party, making former President Donald J. Trump almost certain to win the 2024 election. But with recent polls showing Mr. Biden trailing Trump, some officials close to Mr. Manchin believe that if Mr. Biden seems destined to fail, he will. He said he believes Manchin has a chance.
The senator was on a recent conference call with more than 200 donors, including talks of raising $70 million for potential third-party candidacy.
“To be the leader of the free world, you have to lead,” Manchin told donors, according to the newspaper. Audio of the call obtained by Puck News.
People close to him see other motives. If Mr. Manchin is effective in the Capitol and feels his party is being heard, he will be more likely to run for re-election. If he’s frustrated with his party and miserable in the Senate, he’s likely to explore other options, they said.
No Labels chief executive Nancy Jacobson said No Labels has been operating in all 50 states as an “insurance policy” if the two major political parties nominate candidates who do not support most Americans. He said he was trying to get a presidential candidate into the ballot.
“If Biden really wants to do a deal on the debt ceiling, or if Biden really wants to solve the border and immigration issues, and those issues that the majority of Americans want solved, If they really want to solve it, there will be no room for us,” she said. Jacobson said in an interview. “His numbers will increase, and we will go home.”
Manchin’s frustration with the anti-inflation law began in December when he learned that Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen would allow tax credits for a range of electric vehicles, rather than restricting them to commercial uses, which he wanted. rice field.
Finance officials said they were just following the law as written. But Manchin insisted it was never his intention.
In a letter to Yellen, he said the credits were “for commercial use only and your department must comply with the intent of Congress.”
The tax credit for electric vehicles was so popular that the cost of the bill increased significantly, infuriating Mr. Manchin, who considers himself a deficit hawk. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill will cost climate change and clean energy tax credits at least $180 billion more than originally projected.
The senator also expressed concern about the Biden administration’s reluctance to approve leases for domestic energy production, arguing that officials are reluctant to approve them unless they face a court order. An administration official working on the bill’s rollout said the White House “expects many sales in the coming months.”
Manchin also lashed out at White House senior adviser John Podesta for making statements “beyond irresponsibility” for saying that Chinese companies would become “majors” in U.S. energy production.
Republicans are scrambling to capitalize on the conflict between Mr. Manchin and the Biden administration. The National Republican Senate Committee recently released an ad highlighting Mr. Manchin’s remarks. vow to repeal one’s bill.
“She made it clear that she wrote the bill in West Virginia,” said West Virginia Republican Senator Sherry Moore Capito, who backs Justice. “It is unusual for him to want to repeal a bill he made, but I understand he finally realized what we all know. It means not following the letter.”
But Mr. Manchin will use whatever means he can to persuade the Biden administration to go his own way. His staff regularly speak to officials and he is known to have called Podesta directly.
“When Joe Manchin says something, he’s very sincere about it,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat who serves on the Energy Committee with Manchin. “We definitely want to encourage manufacturing in this country, and that’s what Joe is really fighting for,” he added.