Schumer Hooked Manchin, But Sinema May Still Stand in the Way of Democrats’ Climate and Deficit Reduction Package

When a nation is in recession, it’s absolutely idiotic for the legislature to pass bills that raise taxes and coddle the climate change agenda. One might even argue that the so-called “Climate and Deficit Reduction Package” is specifically designed to aid in the manufactured destruction of our nation’s economy.

But with Senator Joe Manchin abandoning his fiscal principles to walk the party line, there’s one more Senator who may stand in Chuck Schumer’s way. Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona may be poised to keep the bill from getting all 50 Democrats, which would be needed if all 50 Republicans vote against it.

According to Axios:

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) had a message for her Democratic colleagues before she flew home to Arizona for the weekend: She’s preserving her options.

Why it matters: Sinema has leverage and she knows it. Any potential modification to the Democrat’s climate and deficit reduction package — like knocking out the $14 billion provision on carried interest — could cause the fragile deal to collapse.

• • Her posture is causing something between angst and fear in the Democratic caucus as senators wait for her to render a verdict on the secret deal announced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin last Thursday.

Driving the news: Sinema has given no assurances to colleagues that she’ll vote along party lines in the so-called “vote-a-rama” for the $740 billion bill next week, according to people familiar with the matter.

• • The vote-a-rama process allows lawmakers to offer an unlimited number of amendments, as long as they are ruled germane by the Senate parliamentarian. Senators — and reporters — expect a late night.
  • Republicans, steaming mad that Democrats have a chance to send a $280 billion China competition package and a massive climate and health care bill to President Biden, will use the vote-a-rama to force vulnerable Democrats to take politically difficult votes.
  • They’ll also attempt to kill the reconciliation package with poison pills — amendments that make it impossible for Schumer to find 50 votes for final passage.

The intrigue: Not only is Sinema indicating that she’s open to letting Republicans modify the bill, she has given no guarantees she’ll support a final “wrap-around” amendment, which would restore the original Schumer-Manchin deal.

The most likely scenario is that Sinema gets something in return from Schumer to make for smooth sailing for the bill. Democrats desperately need this or they may go into the midterm elections with literally nothing on their agenda accomplished.