Barrasso says Sinema ‘not going to easily be twisted’ on Manchin-Schumer deal: ‘This is far from done’

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) on Sunday said the new spending deal between Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced last week is “far from done,” suggesting possible opposition from moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

Barrasso told Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo that Sinema “felt blindsided” by the Inflation Reduction Act, which was announced last week and shocked Capitol Hill.

“She has a spine of steel. She’s not going to easily be twisted,” Barrasso said of Sinema. “In terms of, will this pass, they need all 50 Democrats on board and in the room. … They haven’t had 50 senators show up for work in well over a month. So, this is far from done.”

Sinema has so far remained publicly silent on the deal, which Manchin and Schumer announced just two weeks after Manchin had said he would not support any climate package or tax reform given soaring inflation.

The proposed $670 billion legislation, a scaled-down version of the Build Back Better bill, includes $369 billion for clean energy programs; another $300 billion to reduce the U.S. deficit; and $64 billion for health care expansion.

In the evenly divided Senate, Democrats need all 50 senators on board to push the legislation through, considering every Republican will vote against it. That makes both Manchin and Sinema crucial votes.

Barrasso said he was surprised Manchin supported the legislation because it includes “shell games and smoke and mirrors and accounting gimmicks.”

If Democrats do manage to move the package forward, Barrasso argued it would inevitably hurt the American economy.

“I’m not sure what Chuck Schumer promised him, but I think he’s going to regret making this decision to sign onto this,” Barrasso said of Manchin. “Every Republican is against it, because we know it is going to burn a deeper hole into the wallets and the savings accounts of American people.”