Joe Manchin's surprising approval of the US government's billion-dollar climate and social package was not a change of heart, it said immediately after it became known.

"Today's announcement is not a reversal of anything," the spokeswoman for the West Virginia Democratic senator wrote on Twitter Wednesday night.

Less than two weeks ago, however, Manchin had refused to vote for Joe Biden's major project.

Sofia Dreisbach

North American political correspondent based in Washington.

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Now he announced an agreement in a statement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday.

Manchin tweeted that he was "proud" to support the "Inflation Reduction Bill 2022."

$369 billion is to be spent on energy security and the climate, and $300 billion on debt reduction.

Tax loopholes should be closed

It "is time to put down the partisan swords and move forward with legislation that is in the best interests of this nation's future," Manchin said in a statement.

In mid-July he was still arguing that before spending the next billions he wanted to see how inflation was developing.

Now he says the bill will fight inflation and "American suffering."

Specifically, the draft envisages reducing carbon emissions by around forty percent by 2030, cutting energy costs and lowering the price of prescription drugs.

In addition, tax loopholes for rich individuals and companies are to be closed.

For President Joe Biden, who was able to leave his corona quarantine on Wednesday, Manchin's concession before the congressional elections in November is an important success.

"These are the measures the Americans have been waiting for," Biden wrote in a first reaction.

The bill addresses the current problems - high healthcare costs and inflation - and invests in energy security for the future.

If passed, the law would be "historic," Biden wrote.

And the promise to fight inflation, which is at its highest level in forty years, should also go down well with voters.

But the package that was put together after months of negotiations is far behind the actual plan.

Biden's original "Build Back Better" reform project was supposed to be worth $2 trillion, but had been slimmed down after Manchin's refusal.

"'Build Back Better' is dead," Manchin wrote in his statement on Wednesday.

Instead, you have "the opportunity to make our country stronger by bringing Americans together."

McConnell denounces 'huge tax hikes'

Because of the stalemate of 50 to 50 votes, the 74-year-old man from West Virginia has great leverage in the Senate: it needs the approval of all Democrats to push through a simple majority for democratic reform projects with the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.

No support can be expected from the Republican side in this case.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday he couldn't believe Manchin would "agree to a massive tax hike in the name of climate change" when the economy was hitting bottom.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Minority Leader, berated the "giant tax hikes" that have cost "many thousands" of jobs.

For Biden, the second part of his core agenda is being fulfilled with the climate and social package.

In November last year, Biden was able to sign the planned infrastructure package worth more than $1 trillion – even after months of wrestling.

The fact that both projects finally seem saved could give the Democrats a boost.

In the congressional elections in November, the party could lose the already narrow majority in both chambers.

Biden has called on the Senate and House of Representatives to quickly pass the bill.

Only after Biden finally signs will the law go into effect.