Manchin Says He’ll Talk to Sinema About Supporting Reconciliation Spending Bill

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) says he’ll speak to fellow moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) about supporting the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) reconciliation package.

The IRA, a compromise reconciliation package hammered out over months of negotiations between Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), would substantially change tax law in order to fund new climate policies and initiatives to reduce the federal deficit.

The agreement comes after the failure eight months ago of a much larger spending package, the Build Back Better Act (BBB), which Manchin said he absolutely would refuse to support.

The deal is a breakthrough for Democrats, who had grown increasingly hopeless about the prospects of passing substantial reconciliation legislation before the onset of the midterms. However, while Manchin is on board with the proposal, Sinema remains a question mark.

Sinema, who has long refused to give out her policy positions to the media, has been mum on the bill, but her support will be absolutely essential for Democrats to pass the legislation.

Because Democrats control 51 seats in the upper chamber, including Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote, and because reconciliation bills can pass over the normal filibuster process in the Senate, Democrats have just enough votes to push the bill through—but only if all 50 Democrats support it.

Though Manchin struck the killing blow against BBB in Dec. 2021, Sinema had for months joined him in opposing the legislation. Reportedly, Sinema was unilaterally opposed to increasing tax levels from the rates set by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; the IRA, however, would raise taxes on corporations and some individuals, throwing into doubt her support for the legislation.

On Aug. 1, Manchin said that he would talk to his moderate colleague and encourage her to support the bill, which he said she did not help to

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