Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said it is “unlikely” that the Senate would revive President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan despite some interest from fellow holdout Sen. Joe Manchin, Axios reports.
Sinema in closed-door discussions with donors has said that a “path to revival is unlikely,” according to the report.
Sources told the outlet that no one has reached out to Sinema about the parameters of a slimmed-down package that Manchin has floated.
Instead, Sinema told donors that most of her focus is on legislation to fund Covid relief, modifying the Electoral Count Act, and the so-called China competition bill.
A Sinema spokesperson declined to comment to Axios.
Manchin seems on board:
Though Manchin ultimately killed the Build Back Better negotiations in December, he has expressed interest in a slimmed-down version of the bill that would roll back some of the Trump tax cuts on the wealthy and corporations and allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices to fund $550 billion in new climate spending and deficit reduction.
But while Manchin is open to climate spending, he is also demanding more permits for offshore drilling and domestic pipelines.
Some progressives are skeptical of Manchin’s intentions but others say they are ready to accept his demand for permits in exchange for funding to reduce carbon emissions.
Sinema key holdout:
The key issue is that Manchin’s plan would largely be funded by rollbacks of the Trump tax cuts on the wealthy and corporations, which Sinema opposes, and allowing Medicare to reduce its spending by negotiating lower drug prices, a measure Sinema helped dramatically water down in negotiations last year.
Sinema did, however, agree to a global minimum tax rate for corporations of 15%, which could raise about $600 billion over the next decade.
