WASHINGTON – In an unexpected development, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin announced on Wednesday that they had reached an expansive agreement that they had evaded for months on the issues. energy and climate, health care, taxes on higher earners and corporations, and cuts in the federal debt.
For months, Manchin’s opposition has blocked a bigger deal that President Joe Biden and other Democrats are seeking, in part because he says it will promote rather than fight inflation. .
In a abrupt announcement, he and Democrat Schumer said the measure would raise revenue by $739 billion over 10 years, the most of which would come from the 15% minimum corporate tax rate.
It will spend $369 billion on energy and climate initiatives and $64 billion to expand expiring federal grants for health buyers insurance. That would leave more than $300 billion to reduce the federal deficit over the decade.
The Senate will consider the overall package next week, Schumer, DN.Y. and Manchin, DW.Va., who have been negotiating for months and seem to have reached an impasse on anything but a much smaller measure.
The surprise announcement to President Joe Biden and promising Democrats pushes a key achievement through Congress in the run-up to November’s congressional elections, in which Republicans appear to as well-positioned to take control of the House and possibly a majority of the Senate.
Intriguingly, Democrats call the measure the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.” Polls show that inflation, as represented by gasoline prices that passed $5 a gallon before easing, is a top concern for voters. For months, Manchin’s opposition to the proposed larger packages was partly due to his worry that it would spur inflation.
Manchin’s resistance has long falsified the law extensively on matters of the proposal.
Manchin, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, said just last week that he would only agree to much more restrictive legislation to limit prescription drug costs and expand federal subsidies for the cost. health care.
He said he was open to considering a broader compromise on environmental and tax issues after Congress returns from the summer break in September, a proposal many Democrats say is unclear. .
There was no immediate explanation why Manchin suddenly agreed to the broader bid. In December, his protest derailed a 10-year, $3.5 trillion environmental and social bill that had been Biden’s top domestic priority.
In its statement, Manchin said the new measure “will spend hundreds of billions of dollars reducing the deficit by adopting a tax policy that protects small businesses and the American working class while ensuring that big corporations and the super rich pay their fair share of taxes. . “
