Democratic leaders have decided to accept an offer by Sen. Manchin and move forward on a slimmed-down bill with drug pricing and health insurance funding — leaving efforts on climate change for another day.
For many Democrats, shelving the climate change provisions was a huge blow. But in the 50-50 Senate, with the party facing no hope of winning Republican support for a filibuster-proof package, the centrist Manchin's decisive vote leaves them with two options: Accept his narrow deal or let the entire package die.Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
“I agree 100 percent with Senator Markey. Take the wins,” he said. “We have to be pragmatic in making progress, step by step.” “With respect to clean energy for America, I’m absolutely going to push for that in the future because it’s time to get America out of picking winners and losers, with respect to energy choices, and have a transformative policy," he added.