Democrats' climate and health care bill on track after Kyrsten Sinema signs on, with small modifications


Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday night that the Senate will begin voting on the Inflation Reduction Act on Saturday afternoon after the final Democratic holdout, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), announced she is prepared to "move forward" on the major energy, climate, health care, and tax package. Because they are trying to pass the bill through the filibuster-proof budge reconciliation process, Democrats need all 50 members of their caucus on board.
If the Senate approves the bill over the weekend, the House could clear it next week. "Final congressional approval of the election-year measure would complete an astounding, 11th-hour salvation of [President] Biden's wide-ranging domestic goals, though in more modest form," The Associated Press reports.
Sinema said late Thursday that she had secured changes to the package "to remove the carried interest tax provision, protect advanced manufacturing, and boost our clean energy economy," and that "subject to the parliamentarian's review, I'll move forward." She reportedly secured about $5 billion for drought relief and other climate resiliency funds. The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, is expected to adjudicate the final sections of the legislation on Friday, ruling out provisions that run afoul of reconciliation rules by the time voting starts on Saturday.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Stripping out the "carried interest" loophole, which lets hedge fund and private equity managers pay lower taxes, would reduce the legislation's $739 billion in new revenue by about $14 billion, and changes Sinema is asking for to the 15 percent minimum corporate tax could cut another $40 billion in revenue, Politico reports. But Democrats are adding in a 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks by corporations, bringing in $73 billion, Politico adds, citing a Democrat familiar with the deal, meaning the new legislation will reduce the deficit by more than the $300 billion in the original deal.
Schumer, who secretly negotiated the overarching deal with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), said he believes the final legislation "will receive the support of the entire Senate Democratic conference." Whatever small changes are made to the bill before it clears the Senate, "it's going to be fundamentally what it is," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). "It's going to address climate in a significant way, it's going to affect drug prices. It's going to close some tax loopholes. I hope a lot of them."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
‘Every argument has a rational, emotional and rhetorical component’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US