Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaking to a local radio station in his home state of West Virginia about the Inflation Reduction Act (the slimmed-down reconciliation bill) that he agreed with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer yesterday.

• Manchin: "This is our bill, the bill that we worked on....We're not talking about a USD3.5 trillion in spending. We're down to USD400bn in investment."
• Manchin: "Fossil energy is recognized to be a major driving force and player in this piece of legislation" [West Virginia has notable coal mining industry].
• Manchin says he told staff to ensure no inflationary measures in bill: "I said, scrub this bill down, there can't be one thing that you can say, oh that causes inflation..."
• Says the bill came through negotiations between his and Schumer's offices, "My staff was driving it. We wrote the bill...President Biden was not involved." Says that "It could have absolutely gone sideways" if the White House were involved.