The Arizona Democrat had been her party’s last remaining holdout on the package, now slated to move forward on Saturday and pass the Senate within days.
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Senator Kyrsten Sinema signed off on the plan after Democratic leaders made changes to its proposed tax increases.
WASHINGTON — Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, announced on Thursday evening that she would support moving forward with her party’s climate, tax and health care package, clearing the way for a major piece of President Biden’s domestic agenda to move through the Senate in the coming days.
To win Ms. Sinema’s support, Democratic leaders agreed to drop a $14 billion tax increase on some wealthy hedge fund managers and private equity executives that she had opposed. In a statement, Ms. Sinema said she had also won the inclusion of changes that would “protect advanced manufacturing and boost our clean energy economy,” but did not offer details.
Ms. Sinema said she was ready to move forward with the package, provided that the Senate’s top rules officials signed off on it.
Ms. Sinema had been the final holdout on the package after Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, struck a deal with top Democrats last week that resurrected a plan that had appeared to have collapsed.
It brought Democrats one step closer to enacting the package and salvaging key pieces of their domestic agenda, beginning with a series of votes this weekend. It came just over a week after Mr. Manchin and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, stunned their colleagues with an agreement to include hundreds of billions of dollars for climate and energy programs and tax increases in the legislation, on top of a proposal to reduce the price of prescription drugs and extend health insurance subsidies.
The measure needs the unanimous support of Democrats to move forward in the 50-50 Senate, so the party cannot afford even one defection.
Mr. Schumer confirmed in a statement that he had reached an agreement “that I believe will receive the support of the entire Senate Democratic conference.” He said the revised legislation would be released on Saturday.
“The agreement preserves the major components of the Inflation Reduction Act, including reducing prescription drug costs, fighting climate change, closing tax loopholes exploited by big corporations and the wealthy, and reducing the deficit,” he said. The deal will “put us one step closer to enacting this historic legislation into law.”
Alan Rappeport contributed reporting.
Source: nytimes.com
