Manchin deal gets Dems’ pushback

Permitting measures now facing opposition

WASHINGTON — Democrats desperately needed the vote of Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to get their signature legislative priority across the finish line. So they did what Washington does best: They cut a deal.

To help land his support for a bill hailed by advocacy groups as the biggest investment ever in curbing climate change, Manchin said he secured a commitment from President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders to move a permitting-streamlining package for energy projects through Congress before Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

Now the climate bill is law, and Manchin is ready to collect. But key Democratic constituency groups are lining up against the proposal, calling it bad for the country and the climate. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and dozens of House members agree.

The divide is testing the ability of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., to keep enough Democrats in line to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

Schumer is pushing ahead. He said this week that he would attach Manchin’s preferred measure to must-pass legislation that would keep the federal government running into mid-december.

Legislative text incorporating Manchin’s priorities has not yet been released, but among the goals he has set out is establishing a maximum timeline for permitting reviews, including two years for major projects and one year for lower-impact projects. Manchin also wants a statute of limitations for filing court challenges.

More than 70 House Democrats signed onto a letter Friday calling on Pelosi to keep the permitting provisions out of the spending bill, or any other must-pass legislation this year.

Susan Walsh The Associated Press President Joe Biden hands the pen he used to sign the Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.VA., as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., watches on Aug. 16 at the White House.