Democrats, Manchin Split Over Climate Deal That Led to Passage of Inflation Reduction Act

Democrats are facing heightened inter-party disputes with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) over a backroom deal that helped win Manchin’s support for the Inflation Reduction Act.

Specifically, Manchin agreed to lend his support to the bill—crucial for the bill’s eventual passage through the evenly divided Senate—in exchange for consideration at a later date of separate legislation that would grant some concessions to fossil fuels and would cut down on regulations of the industry.

The original deal with Manchin, negotiated between President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), it was agreed that Democrats would “pass comprehensive permitting reform legislation before the end of this fiscal year,” or Oct. 1.

But with the Inflation Reduction Act passed, some Democrats are getting cold feet about honoring that deal, which they say would undercut the effects of the approximately $400 billion in climate spending contained in the larger reconciliation bill.

At the first sign of this burgeoning schism, Manchin warned other Democrats against betraying him on the deal, threatening a government shutdown if they did.

Democrats, particularly in the House, have contended that they have no obligation to honor a backroom deal that they weren’t consulted about.

Some progressives have contended that the demands made by Manchin—including cuts to regulations that often can delay the construction of energy infrastructure projects for years and a $6.6 billion appropriation to help restart the stalled West Virginia Mountain Valley pipeline—threaten to undercut the climate goals of the $700 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which dedicates more than half of its new spending to climate policies.

Democrats have said these policies will lead to a long-term cut in U.S. carbon emissions of around 40 percent over their 2005 levels, a cut still ten percent short of the 50 percent emissions reduction requested by Biden at

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