Tough Tuesday: Manchin suffers two major blows to his power

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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) suffered setbacks on Tuesday night, losing a major policy bill that was set to be included in the annual defense legislation, as well as watching his outsize influence over the party wither away after Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) won reelection in Georgia.

Over the last two years, Manchin has acted as somewhat of a gatekeeper within his party, often using his vote to negotiate and boost his own priorities in exchange for support on a Democratic bill. This strategy has routinely worked for the West Virginia senator as Democrats couldn’t afford to lose his vote in the 50-50 Senate, often resulting in drawn-out negotiations or compromises in order to pass legislation.

MANCHIN PERMITTING REFORM RIDER FAILS A SECOND TIME WITH NDAA AGREEMENT

However, with Warnock’s win on Tuesday, Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, meaning Manchin’s vote no longer holds the same weight as it has over the last two years.

That’s not to say Democrats will have an easy time getting legislation through the Senate because the party will still need to contend with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who has also occasionally impeded Democrats from passing their agenda items.

Sinema has often used her position as a centrist to elevate herself as a key negotiator between Republicans and Democrats when it came to drafting legislation and standing firm against removing the legislative filibuster.

Manchin may have gotten his first taste of what this average rank-and-file status will be like after his long sought-after permitting bill was excluded from the National Defense Authorization Act, likely killing the legislation unless lawmakers revive it in the next Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) initially cut a deal with Manchin to include the energy-permitting legislation in the annual government funding bill in exchange for his support of the Inflation Reduction Act.

But when it failed to pass as part of the annual government funding legislation, Manchin tried a second time to have his Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022 attached as a rider on the NDAA, but many liberal Democrats, as well as top Republican negotiators, balked at its inclusion.

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“Failing to pass bipartisan energy permitting reform that both Republicans and Democrats have called for will have long-term consequences for our energy independence,” Manchin said in a statement Tuesday night. “The American people will pay the steepest price for Washington once again failing to put commonsense policy ahead of toxic tribal politics.”

Despite the setback, Manchin’s permitting legislation is not entirely dead. Several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed interest in reforming the federal permitting process, making it likely discussion on an overhaul could materialize in the next Congress.

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