Joe Manchin is big mad because Biden is using climate bill to fight climate change

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin—who at best could be described as a “frenemy” of the environment—will never be accused of overthinking things. Then again, if his brain were working at full capacity, it would likely be rollin’ coal on the Senate floor every single day, so maybe it’s a good thing he’s not quite firing on every cylinder. That said, a new Washington Post story on Manchin’s disputes with the Biden administration over its execution of the Inflation Reduction Act, also known as the IRA, which Manchin was instrumental in creating, is pretty funny.

It’s also quite telling: “Biden administration officials believe Manchin has at times misunderstood provisions of the legislation he wrote, and in some instances see his demands as requiring them to violate the law, according to three people familiar with the administration’s thinking.” In other words, this bituminous gob has no clue what he’s talking about. But we can’t say that directly because, well, he’s still a Democrat and we need him. 

Regardless, Manchin is big mad. He thinks the Biden administration tricked him, and he’s now rather down on the big bill he brought into being through his intense negotiations with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last summer. Why is he suddenly against the IRA?

Because it’s doing too much to combat climate change, apparently.