A few weeks ago, I wrote about how progressives were intent on betraying West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, even after he cast his vote in favor of their much sought-after Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) monstrosity. It now appears that the credulous senator’s fanciful dreams of an oil-and-gas permitting revolution — his condition for his IRA support — will remain just that, thanks to liberal Democrats in the Senate working alongside their Republican colleagues.
The unlikely bedfellows banded together to prevent the reform proposal’s inclusion in a stopgap funding bill that staves off the potential for a government shutdown until after the midterm elections. But those looking to blame Republicans for this legislative failure should revisit how we got here.
Irrespective of the policy merits, Republicans had every right to block Manchin’s legislative baby from coming to fruition. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) decides what gets a vote, and he prevented the GOP’s further-reaching proposal from coming to the floor. It’s fair to argue that Republicans shouldn’t have let perfect be the enemy of the good, but why would they lend Manchin a hand on a bill they had zero input in drafting?
Manchin also should have known better than to trust Democratic leadership, which has its hands tied by the once-fringe progressive faction of their party. The fact that Democratic leaders didn’t hold up their end of the bargain and cynically threw the Mountain State maverick under the bus is no surprise to anyone paying attention to politics the last few years.
There’s a lesson Senator Manchin can learn from this hoodwinking — the one about what happens when you play with fire.