“The path is obvious,” McConnell added. “Drop foreign and partisan language.”
Within hours, Mr. Manchin had agreed to withdraw the energy proposal.
Some Democrats, including climate hawks, had signaled their support for the permit package, as they said it would help speed up construction of transmission lines and other infrastructure needed to fight climate change and help deliver on President Biden’s pledge to roughly halve US emissions. by 2030.
But at least two members of the Senate Democratic caucus, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, and Sen. Tim Kaine from Virginia, had announced they would vote against the interim spending bill because of the legislation. reform authorizing. Mr. Kaine, in a statement released Tuesday morning, spoke out against the provision guaranteeing the construction of the Mountain Valley pipeline.
“I think it’s a good day for the climate and for the environment, and a bad day for big oil companies and the fossil fuel industry,” Sanders said Tuesday. He added: “If we are talking about accelerating clean energy projects – of course we are ready to work on that. But the last thing this country, this world needs right now is more fossil fuel projects.
In recent days, Mr. Manchin had been trying to convince his colleagues, placing an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal and appearing in a series of television interviews on Fox News and other cable shows to plead in favor of the bill. Republicans, however, instead rallied behind a plan by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia, which Democrats say would undermine existing environmental laws.
Lawmakers aim to finish negotiating a broader spending package in the coming weeks.
“In an age of rising inflation, where everything is more expensive – energy, food, fuel, housing – we need to respond accordingly,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and Chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the Senate. “Running on autopilot after December would be irresponsible, and the American people deserve more.”
Ukraine’s recent military success, including reclaiming territory from Russia this month, has rallied lawmakers, who have already approved about $54 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid this year, behind the prospect of investing more money in the effort. If passed, the current package will mean that the United States will have pledged to send the highest amount of military aid to any country in a single year since the Vietnam War, said William D. Hartung, principal investigator at the Quincy Institute.