More Senate Democrats oppose Manchin push for permitting reform in stopgap funding

Additional Senate Democrats have come out in opposition of Sen. Joe Manchin’s push to change the approval process for energy projects. 

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) lead a letter calling for the separation of the permitting reform message from a stopgap government funding measure known as a continuing resolution.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) signed the letter as well.

But the lawmakers stopped short of explicitly saying they would vote against funding the government in order to stop the deal from going through. 

The letter was first reported by Politico. Merkley’s office confirmed the accuracy of that report to The Hill.

As a condition of his support for the Democrats’ recently passed climate and tax bill, Manchin struck a deal with leadership to pass legislation aimed at speeding up the process for approving energy projects.

But the measure, which Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said he would put into a stopgap funding measure, has been met resistance from progressives who are concerned that it may undercut environmental inspections that are part of the approval process. 

During a Tuesday press conference, Manchin said that his changes to the measure, the text of which had not yet been released early Wednesday afternoon, maintain environmental safeguards. 

If the additional lawmakers vote against the permitting measure, that complicates its prospects for approval. It’s unclear how much support the provision has on the Republican side, and it will require 60 votes to avoid a legislative filibuster. 

In a Wednesday floor speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) endorsed a more conservative proposal from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and called Manchin’s proposal “reform in name only.”

In the House, about 80 lawmakers signed onto a letter similar to Merkley’s, calling for permitting reform to be considered separately from government funding.