Will the Democrats’ surprise legislative win give them fresh momentum?

Democrats have been quick to accentuate the positives – both short and long term – of a surprise deal struck to resurrect some elements of Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. That includes climate provisions that advocates have said help keep the US in the global fight to deal with the environmental crisis.

“I’d say it’s somewhere between a surprise and a shock,” the Democratic senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy, said of the deal around the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 – which also includes major investments in lowering drug pricing and closing tax loopholes for the wealthy.

The reason? Talks between West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, who has made a habit of holding up legislation, and the Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, had broken down in mid-July, with Manchin admitting that things had got “heated”. Manchin said he had told Schumer, in regard to rising inflation, that “the people of West Virginia cannot afford higher prices. They can’t afford higher gasoline prices, higher food prices.”