A spokesperson for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) has denied that she wants to cut $100 billion from climate proposals in the Democrats’ spending bill currently making its way through Congress.
Sinema is one of two centrist Democrats in the Senate whose votes are critical to the passage of two bills that together would form President Joe Biden’s mammoth spending agenda: a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a separate $3.5 trillion budget bill.
Her denial comes after The New York Times reported on Friday that Sinema was seeking to cut the amount in proposed climate provisions in an effort to reduce the price tag on the agenda. The NY Times cited two people familiar with the matter.
“Neither Senator Sinema nor our office have requested or demanded such cuts, nor have we ever heard of any such demands. Once again, the NY Times relies on anonymous sources and gets it flat wrong. Do better,” he wrote.
Both Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have rejected the proposed price of the Build Back Better legislation.
He said that if Democrats wanted to do more “they can run on the rest of it later,” and that “there’s many ways to get where they want to, just not [by] doing everything at one time.”
Democrats need the vote of all 50 Democratic senators in order to pass the bill, meaning both Sinema’s and Manchin’s votes are crucial. The bill has repeatedly hit stalemates in Congress in recent weeks as Republicans and Democrats share differing views on everything from taxes to health to climate change, as well as the overall price tag.
Combined, they total about $450 billion. But Democrats may be forced to cut up to an additional $200 billion in several other climate programs in an effort to lower the cost of the bill and appease those opposing the huge price tag.