On Tuesday, Democratic Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ro Khanna of California backed environmentalists in opposing a bill sponsored by the White House that would expedite oil and gas production, Fox News informed.
Speaking before a crowd of young demonstrators holding placards that said “Stop the #DirtyDeal,” Tlaib and Khanna were captured on camera.
The proposal by Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to incorporate legislation that updates the permitting requirements for drilling of oil and gas in the necessary yearly defense budget measure is being dubbed #DirtyDeal by opponents.
President Biden backed the bill, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked by journalists on Monday.
In exchange for Manchin’s support for Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act in August, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to include the Manchin-supported legislation in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) at the end of the fiscal year. However, because Manchin was unable to get enough support for the idea, the provision regarding permitting reform was ultimately taken out of a short-term government funding package in September.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are currently debating whether tying the legislation to the NDAA runs the danger of killing the broader package.
In the evenly divided Senate, at least 10 GOP backers will be required to override the 60-vote filibuster threshold in order for the NDAA to succeed.
Since Democrats control the House by a razor-thin margin, Schumer and Pelosi are both anxious to move legislation before the next Congress convenes in January. However, the progressive resistance may be essential to killing the proposal.
Reps. Tlaib, Khanna, and Ral Grijalva, D-Ariz., have already stated that they will not vote for the NDAA if it contains Manchin’s allowing measure.
Tlaib stated on Twitter on Monday that she is adamantly opposed to the NDAA being attached to Manchin’s #DirtyDeal.
She said that the NDAA would eliminate fundamental environmental laws and expedite fossil fuel projects, adding that she would not stand by while the citizens of frontline communities were sacrificed to the insatiable greed of the fossil fuel industry.
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