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"The text will be out tomorrow," Manchin, a Democrat from West
Virginia, told a press conference on Tuesday, noting it will
give senators plenty of time to review the legislation he wants
to attach to a temporary federal funding bill to prevent
government shutdowns before the start of the new fiscal year on
Oct. 1.
Manchin, an important swing vote in the 50-50 Senate, reached a
side deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer during talks
for the wider Inflation Reduction Act for his permitting measure
to be voted on this fall.
A short version of the measure has been out for months and
included speeding the permitting of Equitrans Midstream Corp's
long-delayed $6.6 billion West Virginia-to-Virginia natural gas
Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The measure's support for fossil fuel projects has spurred 77
Democrats in the U.S. House and two in the Senate, including
Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with
Democrats, to already oppose the measure. Some Republicans also
say they oppose it.
"I've never seen stranger bedfellows than Bernie Sanders and the
extreme liberal left siding up with Republican leadership" and
its rank-and-file senators, Manchin said.
When asked whether he was willing to shut down the government if
he does not win the vote, Manchin said, "I'm not shutting the
government down, I'm voting for it."
Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, said at a
Washington Post event on Tuesday he did not know whether the
measure will pass this month given the opposition from some
Republicans who hope their party can retake the Senate in the
Nov. 8 midterm elections.
But Schatz said the bill has a chance if it offers incentives
for renewable energy including transmission lines. "Democrats in
the Senate by and large are for this because they understand the
need to make it easier to build these projects," said Schatz.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Timothy Gardner; Editing by
Josie Kao)
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