There were two outcomes: either Joe would give up on getting his permitting through, at least for now, or, Democrats would refuse to allow it in the budget bill. And Republicans were also refusing to play ball
Government shutdown likely avoided after Sen. Manchin reverses course on energy permitting
An about-face from Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday evening helped to set the Senate on an unexpected glide path to averting a Friday night shutdown.
The funding bill, which will keep the government running through Dec. 16, easily earned the 60 votes necessary to clear a procedural hurdle during a Tuesday vote. Seventy-two Senators supported moving forward with the proposal.
It was not expected to be so easy.
For several weeks, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has been carefully balancing his promise to Manchin to include Manchin’s permitting change proposal on a must-pass bill before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 — despite a growing coalition of members on both sides of the aisle vowing to block any short-term funding bill that included Manchin’s changes.
Schumer gave assurances to Manchin in order to secure the West Virginia Democrat’s essential support for the party’s major social spending and tax bill this summer, the Inflation Reduction Act.
So, what happened?
As recently as Monday, Manchin was holding firm to that promise. He spent the weekend working the phones, rallying support and publishing op-eds extolling the benefits — according to him — that his legislation would heap upon both renewable and non-renewable energy sources, over cries from critics that it would support further fossil fuel development. He believed there was a path to 60 votes.
But then he relented.
In a statement on Tuesday just half an hour before the Senate was set to vote down a short-term funding bill that included permitting changes, Manchin announced that he had requested Schumer remove his language from the bill.
Does he ever get the permitting scheme in a bill? Or, did he just throw West Virginia under the bus for the Dems bullshit “Inflation Reduction Act” that has nothing to do with inflation, and will raise the cost of living for West Virginians, and get absolutely nothing? Good job, Joe. Everyone but you could see this coming.
If the GOP held up this bill it would simply be said that the GOP shut down the government weeks before the Mid Terms. Not a bright idea but then no one accused the GOP of being overly bright in the last 30 or so years.
No GOP’er in his right mind would collectively shut down the government at this time. 20-something gophers voted yes, which meant 20 or so GOP senators who needed to vote no were allowed to do so keeping their constituents happy. For the Moment.
Manchin is what we all knew he was. A Democrat. He votes with the Democrats in the end. He threw his state a bone by allowing the WV gas pipeline to be finished. He was lied to and rejected and the thought that he thinks it will be included in the budget at the end of the year is laughable.
Not his fault he can claim. The WV people will love him still because he is one of the few GOP senators that tries to REPRESENT HIS STATE and HIS VOTERS rather than Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Biden, or Trump. If they all did this instead of bowing to special interests we might actually have a representative government.