WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin III says his long-anticipated bill to streamline energy infrastructure permitting will be released Wednesday and that he hopes Republicans will change their minds about opposing it before it comes up for a vote on a stopgap funding bill next week.
The West Virginia Democrat did not share many details about the permitting legislation in advance of its release but promised on Tuesday it will not bypass environmental reviews, as some Democrats fear.
Manchin also argued that this is Republicans’ best shot at enacting permitting changes for which they have long pushed — even if it doesn’t go as far as they’d like — and that they shouldn’t oppose it because of “revenge politics” for him providing the key vote for Democrats to pass a more sweeping climate, tax and health care law.
