Senate moves forward to fund government despite Manchin energy plan snags

This vote to advance the palliative, likely to take place on Tuesday or Wednesday, would require 60 senators. The New York Democrat is determined to tie the energy permit provisions to the funding patch, stemming from an agreement with the Democratic senator. Joe Manchin who cemented West Virginia’s centrist support for the party health, taxation and climate bill.

But if political wrangling over authorization delays the Senate’s vote on which motion to pursue, the House could first propose a funding fix without the energy provisions, the president said. Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. Government funding is due to expire at midnight on September 30. Lawmakers said the stopgap would likely keep government funding going until December 16.

Manchin unveiled his Energy Softener package on Wednesday. And in a nudge, his GOP counterpart, Sen. Shelley MooreCapito of West Virginia, said Thursday that she supports Manchin’s plan. But Manchin needs more help from his fellow Republicans to cross the finish line.

Most Republicans think Manchin’s bill doesn’t go far enough to loosen permit rules, and they’ve rallied around a separate GOP proposal presented by Capito. Additionally, Republicans are unwilling to reward Manchin for striking a deal with Schumer over the summer that allowed Democrats to pass their climate and health care bill without a GOP vote.

Meanwhile, a growing chorus of Senate liberals and House progressives are calling for the temporary funding patch to be separated from the energy licensing provisions. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Thursday she wants a separate vote on the short-term funding bill, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he would vote against the stopgap if it includes permission measures.

“I would use any tool we can to make sure this provision doesn’t pass,” Sanders said of the leave provisions earlier this week.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also opposes Manchin’s package because he would endorse the Mountain Valley pipeline in West Virginia, which extends into his home state. Kaine lamented that he had no input on the proposal, even though more than 100 miles would pass through Virginia.

“I tried to be really candid…meeting Sens. Manchin and Schumer to express, ‘OK, here are some tracks that I’m fine with, but this track on Virginia, you didn’t speak to me and I have some real concerns,” Kaine said Thursday. “So exactly how they resolve all of this, unclear.”

republican senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota predicted that the stopgap will have to go ahead without the energy clearance provisions, citing pushback left and right. Instead, they would likely need to move forward with a “clean” bill, he said.

“I just don’t see any enthusiasm for Joe’s package,” Cramer said. “And if people like Tim Kaine are upset about that, I just don’t see how that fits into their coalition.”

The bill is expected to include billions of dollars in emergency funding for Ukraine. Schumer is pushing for $12 billion, although the owners said the final amount is still under negotiation.

Lawmakers also reached an agreement Thursday to include a new five-year user fee authorization that funds much of the FDA’s work.

Additionally, the bill could include billions of dollars to bolster the federal response to natural disasters, in addition to emergency funds to help Jackson, Mississippi, deal with a crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people without drinking water for months. Homeowners are eyeing up to $200 million in additional emergency cash for the city’s dilapidated water system.

Katherine Tully-McManus, Nancy Vu, Burgess Everett and Annie Snider contributed to this report.