Republican fiscal hawks and White House officials are trying to kill off a series of Senate megabill amendments that would ease the phase-out of clean-energy tax credits — arguing the move would strip out hundreds of billions of dollars in budget savings and potentially risk GOP support for the overall bill.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and other senators are forging ahead with plans to offer a series of amendments doing just that. One from Murkowski would offer a reprieve for projects that have started construction; critics of the credits want them eliminated quickly for projects that aren’t already completed.
It’s setting up a major intra-party fight as Senate GOP leaders race to pass the massive bill out of their chamber and send it to the House in the coming hours. Fiscal hawks on both sides of the Capitol are warning they will oppose the bill if the phase-outs of Inflation Reduction Act provisions are watered down.
One key issue: Republicans are counting on the crackdown to offset the massive tax cuts and other provisions in the megabill. If senators push their amendments forward without sufficient offsets, which they’re not expected to find, it could spark a major GOP revolt over the deficit impact of the bill.
Hawks are closely watching Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham and GOP leaders, who have the power to determine whether amendments without budgetary offsets require a simple majority vote or a 60-vote supermajority.
“Basically, if the amendment is set at 51 instead of 60, it’s Graham’s fault that reconciliation implodes,” said one Republican granted anonymity to candidly describe the talks.
