White House chief of staff Ron Klain is purportedly scrambling behind the scenes to court disgruntled progressives and salvage the package that won Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) backing of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to grant Manchin a trove of permitting reforms if he backed the Democrats’ legislative crown jewel. But with Manchin on board, several House Democrats have let their displeasure be known. Klain has been making calls to top progressives to prod them into backing the reform, Axios reported.
‘ISN’T IT DISINGENUOUS?’: MANCHIN PUT IN HOT SEAT OVER INFLATION REDUCTION ACT
“Maybe they are upset about the fact that this has not been going as it was planned,” Natural Resources Committee Chair Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) told Axios, referring to the Biden administration. “The White House has to realize that there was no inclusion on the part of rank-and-file members.”
Grijalva has led an internal mutiny of sorts in the House, helming a crew of roughly 80 House progressives in demanding that leadership detaches permitting reform from the government funding bill, which must clear Congress before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 to avert a government shutdown.
Klain called Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, on Wednesday to prod her into backing the inclusion of permitting reform in the funding bill, per Axios. However, she has been resisting pressure to capitulate, arguing, “We don’t like it. We didn’t agree to it,” according to the report. She wants a “clean” funding bill and for permitting reform to be done separately.
Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) had long been holdouts in the Biden administration’s pursuit of a sweeping social spending package, tanking multiple iterations of proposals for the so-called “Build Back Better” agenda.
Schumer unveiled a deal he cut with Manchin on a substantially scaled-down and rebranded Inflation Reduction Act in late July, paving the way for the bill’s passage last month. But a list of permitting reforms Manchin sought was reportedly paramount to his defection. He wants to streamline the approval process for new pipelines and other types of energy projects.
This likely includes tinkering with the National Environmental Policy Act. Review times for projects under NEPA have more than doubled since the 1970s, and nearly a quarter of them take over six years to complete, a 2018 study by the Council on Environmental Quality found, per the American Action Forum. Progressives view NEPA as critical to safeguarding the environment.
“The issue of NEPA is huge, and that many members are very protective about that,” Grijalva added to Axios.
Klain has also reportedly held calls with other Democrats on the matter. Schumer has vowed to include permitting reform in the government funding legislation, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden backs the measure.
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The Inflation Reduction Act was a roughly $740 billion package that included over $400 billion of new spending and is estimated to reduce the deficit by $300 billion, according to Democrats. It features a bevy of provisions on climate, prescription drug pricing, tax reform, and the expansion of the Affordable Care Act’s healthcare premium subsidies.
