Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has threatened to support the repeal of President Joe Biden’s landmark climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, due to disagreements with the administration’s handling of electric vehicle tax credits. The move marks an escalation of tensions between Manchin and the Biden administration, but a repeal is unlikely as it would have to pass through the Democratic-controlled Senate and be approved by the president.
Manchin stated that he would do everything in his power to prevent the administration from continuing to liberalize what the country was supposed to invest in over the next ten years. He also said he would vote to repeal his own bill if the administration did not change. The administration’s handling of electric vehicle tax credits has become a particular flashpoint in the feud. Manchin has lamented a delay in the imposition of battery component requirements and vehicle classifications that he believes allow too many expensive cars to qualify.
In his Monday night interview, Manchin said the administration had “broke their word to the American public.” He stated that the legislation was balanced and that in the next ten years, the country would have enough fossil fuel to run itself and help its allies globally while also investing in new technology for the future. Manchin added that the Biden administration had disregarded this completely, and that the legislation was about energy security, but he had not heard a word about energy security out of the administration’s mouths since it was passed. It was all about the environment, he said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the remarks in a press briefing on Tuesday, saying the administration was “faithfully” implementing the law. She added that the administration was implementing all the parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, including parts they don’t like, and that’s what you do as president and as an administration. That includes components of the act that don’t have anything to do with clean energy.
A repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act is unlikely, at least in the near term. Nevertheless, the move broadly marks an escalation of tensions between Manchin and Biden. Our colleague Alexander Bolton has the full story at TheHill.com.
Original Story at thehill.com – 2023-04-25 23:58:00
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