House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to endorse a controversial deal made among Senate Democrats if placed in an upcoming government spending bill, The Hill reported.
"If the Senate passes a CR [continuing resolution], we have to keep [the] government open," the California Democrat said on Wednesday.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Senate Democratic leadership initially negotiated the deal after the caucus needed him to pass President Joe Biden's massive social and climate spending package in July.
Now, Manchin is pushing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to make good on their end of the bargain: easing red tape and investing in domestic energy infrastructure.
The only problem is some Republicans have voiced concerns with Manchin's specific proposal, which seeks to speed up the environmental review process, restrict states' ability to block some federal projects and complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
And there appears to be substantial House resistance, too. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., appeared to contradict Pelosi on Wednesday, claiming that "the speaker has said she was not part of that agreement.
"I'm not critical of the agreement. I have questions about it, concerns about it. But having said that, this is not our agreement," Hoyer stated.
Meanwhile, progressive Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., is leading a movement against the permit reform's placement in the upcoming resolution, signing a letter last week along with 71 other Congress members opposing its inclusion.
"In the face of the existential threats like climate change and MAGA extremism, House and Senate leadership has a greater responsibility than ever to avoid risking a government shutdown by jamming divisive policy riders into a must-pass continuing resolution," Grijalva stated.
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