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Members of the far-left “Squad” appear less than unified over the Democrats’ social spending and taxation legislation despite their previous attacks against Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., for opposing aspects of the far more expansive “Build Back Better” bill last year.
Only two members of the “Squad” have declared their support for the new, scaled-back bill, officially known as the Inflation Reduction Act, while the other four members have continued avoiding any mention of it following its passage through the Senate on a party line vote on Sunday.
After announcing he would not support the original bill, Manchin participated in private back-room meetings with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and ultimately reached a compromise on the current version of the bill last month.
Sinema announced her support for the bill last week after successfully lobbying for the removal of a provision targeting billionaires that would have closed the carried interest tax “loophole” used by wealthy individuals and corporations.
U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) listen during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 15, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)
“Is it perfect? No. I oppose expansion of fossil fuel leasing and I am disappointed that key elements like taxing wealthy private equity speculators and capping insulin prices for private insurers were removed,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said in a Monday press release announcing her support for the bill.
“But the bill is a massive step forward for Minnesotans and I’m extremely proud of the role the Congressional Progressive Caucus played in pushing for the best deal possible in the face of conservative resistance,” she added.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., joined Omar, celebrating the bill as the result of progressives “fighting” to pass the original “Build Back Better” legislation, but also noting he wasn’t happy about some of its provisions.
“Although it is far from everything we wanted, the Inflation Reduction Act is a direct result of progressives leading the way to advance a robust reconciliation package,” he wrote in a Tuesday press release. “I’m proud to celebrate the wins in this bill.”
DEMOCRATS’ INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS SIMPLY BUILD BACK BETTER 2.0 AND IT’S A SCAM
Jamaal Bowman speaks at a watch party on the night of the Democrat primary for New York’s 16th Congressional District in Yonkers, New York, U.S., June 23, 2020. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo)
“Yet we must also honor and fight for those who are being left behind by this deal,” he later added. “I strongly oppose the bill’s fossil fuel giveaways… as well as the removal of insulin price caps for private insurers and tax accountability for ultra-wealthy private equity speculators.”
“We must keep fighting to do more about the climate crisis, healthcare, and tax fairness, and meet priorities in the House-passed Build Back Better Act for housing, child care, education, workers’ rights and immigration justice,” he said.
None of the remaining four members of the “Squad,” including Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., have indicated which way they might be leaning on the bill, raising questions over whether they are happy with the changes struck in the deal between Manchin and Schumer.
Fox News Digital reached out to Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez, Bush, and Tlaib and asked if they planned to support the bill, or if they would be proposing any changes, but none of them responded.
Democrat Senators Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. (Getty Images/Reuters)
Fox News Digital also reached out to the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which includes all members of the “Squad,” and asked if their members were united in support of the bill, but they also did not respond.
The uncertainty surrounding which way the remaining “Squad” members could vote runs in stark contrast to their previous attacks against Manchin and Sinema when the “Build Back Better” bill failed to move forward in the Senate last year.
Tlaib referred to the two as “corporate Democrats,” while Ocasio-Cortez called Sinema an “obstructionist” and inaccurately claimed she represented more people in her New York City district than Manchin did in all of West Virginia. Bowman called the two “White nationalists,” while Bush accused them of paying more attention to their political donors than everyday Americans. Pressley also accused the two of “obstructing” President Biden’s agenda.
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Democrats can only afford to lose a handful of votes to what will likely be all Republicans in opposing the bill, effectively raising the stakes on the decisions of the remaining “Squad” holdouts, whether they will join their fellow Democrats, or possibly become the new face of those “obstructing” the Biden agenda.
The House to plans to bring the bill to a vote on Friday.
