Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is eyeing changes to Democrats’ $740 billion reconciliation bill — specifically increasing climate funding and restructuring the tax provisions — as the Senate moves rapidly toward final passage before the August recess, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Sinema is the one senator potentially standing in the way of Democrats clinching President Biden’s longtime goal of passing an ambitious package tackling climate change, health care and taxes — renamed the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”
That position gives her a huge amount of leverage as Democrats await a verdict from the Senate parliamentarian over whether the bill complies with the “Byrd Rule,” which controls what provisions can be included in the budget reconciliation process.
The fact the negotiations were conducted entirely in secret between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) — catching Sinema by surprise — has left her space for an 11th hour intervention.
Sinema has so far refused to weigh in on whether or not she will support the bill until the parliamentarian renders her judgment on the measure.
What we’re hearing: Sinema is looking at significantly beefing up the reconciliation bill’s funding for droughts and water security in the Southwest, sources familiar with her thought process tell Axios.
She views the current $369 billion climate and energy portion of the bill as insufficient for addressing threat resiliency funding.
On taxes, Sinema has concerns with the structure of the 15% corporate minimum “book tax” and whether the burden could get passed down to employees, the sources said.
Sinema supports cracking down on tax avoidance, but has long voiced her opposition to closing the carried interest loophole.full Story http://ow.ly/qXAB50Kb0L7 🟪🟪#biden#conservative#democracy#donaldtrump#dumptrump#election#fakenews#foxnews#gop#joebiden#kyrstensinema#liberal#news#patriot#purpleroompolitics#republican#republicans#tgif#tsrpolitics#washingtondc#wethepeople#woke