Manchin rails against 'revenge politics' on permit plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday railed against what he called "revenge politics,'' as liberals in the House and Senate team up with Republicans to oppose his plan to speed permits for natural gas pipelines and other energy projects.

Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, secured a commitment from President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders to include the permitting package in a stopgap government-funding bill in return for his support of a landmark law to curb climate change.

But in the weeks since Biden signed so-called Inflation Reduction Act last month, Democrats and environmental groups have lined up to oppose the permitting plan, calling it bad for the country and the climate. Climate hawks such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, along with dozens of House members, say the permitting plan should be excluded from the must-pass spending bill.

Many Republicans agree. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy panel, called the permitting deal a “political payoff” to Manchin, whose vote on the climate bill was crucial to the law's passage.

Manchin's actions on the climate — including secret negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — "engendered a lot of bad blood” among Republicans, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters. “There’s not a lot of sympathy on our side to provide Sen. Manchin a reward.”

At a news conference Tuesday, Manchin expressed bewilderment at such sentiment, saying he's “never seen" such an example of “revenge politics,'' with Sanders and the "extreme liberal left siding up with Republican leadership'' to oppose his plan.

"It's revenge towards one person — me,'' Manchin said.

“I'm hearing that the Republican leadership is...