Democrat Leadership At Odds Over Permitting As Govt Funding Vote Approaches

Democrat Leadership in the House and Senate appear at odds over the inclusion of permitting reform in a continuing resolution to keep the govt funded though December.

• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) both said today that they’re in the dark over negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV).
• Eric Wasson at Bloomberg: "Hoyer says Pelosi and Dems never agreed to do a permitting bill. This contradicts view of sources at time."
• The permitting reform is part of a deal Schumer made with Manchin to get the Inflation Reduction Act over the line and would relax regulation for energy companies operating on federal land.
• Yesterday, Schumer appeared to call the bluff of over 70 House Democrats who made a tacit threat to shut the govt down if Schumer attaches the permitting reform to the continuing resolution. Schumer: "The permitting agreement is part of the [Inflation Reduction Act] agreement. I’m going to add it to the CR, and it will pass."
• Most analysts still consider the chance of a govt shutdown low, but infighting amongst Democrat leadership so close to November's midterms could fracture a rare period of party unity and affect midterm campaigning.