Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has introduced an amendment to the bipartisan debt ceiling bill that would rescind approval for a pipeline that is supported by fellow Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, The Hill reports.
The bill, which approves a deal reached by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling, includes a provision that approves the Mountain Valley Pipeline that would pass through Virginia and West Virginia.
"I support improving the permitting process for all energy projects. But Congress putting its thumb on the scale so that one specific project doesn't have to comply with the same process as everyone else is the definition of unfair and opens the door to corruption," Kaine said on Thursday in a press release.
"I'm introducing this amendment to strip this harmful provision — which is completely unrelated to the debt limit — from the bill because I owe it to the Virginians impacted by the pipeline — including the hundreds of Virginians whose land is being taken away — to ensure the project only proceeds following fair administrative and judicial review," he added.
Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have both announced that they will vote against the bill once it reaches the Senate due to its approval for the pipeline and other provisions involving the development of fossil fuels.
Manchin said in an interview on Wednesday that he "respectfully disagree[s]" with Kaine on the issue, saying, "there's not been a pipeline that has ever been suggested or possibly built in America that has ever gone through the scrutiny that the MVP has."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.