Manchin rejects adding climate spending, tax hikes on wealthy, striking blow to Biden agenda

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) “unequivocally” on Thursday that he will only support a narrow budget reconciliation package before Labor Day if is does not include new spending to fight climate change or taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations, according to a Democrat briefed on the talks.

Manchin has informed Schumer that if Democrats move the reconciliation bill in August, he will only support a provision to lower prescription drug prices and a two-year extension of expiring health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, according to the source.  

Manchin has backed away from a commitment he made privately to Schumer last week to close a tax loophole on wealthy individuals and couples who earn more than $400,000 and $500,000 annually in pass-through income. That revenue would have been used to extend the solvency of Medicare’s hospital trust fund by three years to 2031.  

Senate Democrats now face a choice of either moving forward on a slimmed-down reconciliation bill to lower the costs of up to 20 prescription drugs and avoid a spike in Affordable Care Act-subsidized health care premiums before the November midterm elections or to keep trying to negotiate with Manchin over proposals to fight climate change.