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After weeks of negotiations to revive the core of their election-year agenda, Senate Democrats appear to be on the brink of passing a spending bill which would attempt to tackle climate change, the high cost of prescription drugs and lower the deficit by roughly $300 billion.
Three weeks ago, the bill was all but dead when Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., withheld his support, citing concerns about adding to historically high inflation.
But just last week, he and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced an agreement, much to the surprise of others in the Senate, who will begin debating the legislation on Saturday afternoon.
The legislation is a significant step forward for President Biden’s domestic agenda.
“This bill is a gamechanger for working families and our economy,” Biden said at an event at the White House Friday. “I look forward to the Senate taking up this legislation and passing it as soon as possible.”
The bill is getting passed through budget reconciliation, which means each section of the bill needs to be reviewed by the Senate parliamentarian to make sure it is actually legislation that will primarily impact the budget. This review process is often referred to as the “Byrd Bath,” named after the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd.
The Inflation Reduction Act is still going through the Byrd Bath. Schumer said Friday that the parliamentarian had the whole day to review the bill, and he’s hoping to introduce it on the floor Saturday afternoon.Democrats appear to have all 50 votes in their conference after Sinema agreement
Late Thursday night, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said she would “move forward” with the legislation; she was the last holdout on the bill and her support essentially means the Senate has all 50 Democratic votes needed to pass the bill.
