The climate bill that seemed to come out of nowhere

Democrats announce a surprise climate and health care bill; A US-Russia prisoner swap for Brittney Griner’s release?

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

A surprise bill to tackle climate change

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

• Senate Democrats announced an unexpected deal to lower health care costs and fight climate change while reducing the federal deficit on Wednesday. [New York Times / Emily Cochrane, Jim Tankersley, and Lisa Friedman]
• The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 would allow Medicare to negotiate the costs of some prescription drugs and extend Affordable Care Act subsidies for millions of Americans through 2025. [USA Today / Ledyard King and Joey Garrison]
• It also provides $369 billion for clean energy and helping low-income communities address climate change. If successful, the climate policies could help reduce US carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030. [BBC]
• The announcement comes weeks after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he would not support climate spending because of concerns about inflation. Manchin said he’s on board with the new package because it cuts inflation and the deficit. [Washington Post / Tony Romm and Mike DeBonis]
• Democrats claim the legislation would cut the federal deficit by $300 billion over the next decade by increasing the corporate minimum tax to 15 percent, closing tax loopholes, and investing in the IRS. How much it would affect inflation remains to be seen. [Axios / Hans Nichols]
• Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked Democrats to stick together; all 50 Democrats must agree to pass the bill in the evenly divided Senate. [Associated Press / Lisa Mascaro and Alan Fram]

A US plan to secure Brittney Griner's release

• Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US made Russia an offer to release basketball star Brittney Griner and security consultant Paul Whelan. [Washington Post / Robyn Dixon, Mary Ilyushina, Natalia Abbakumova, John Hudson, and Abigail Hauslohner]
• The deal is reportedly a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Also called the “Merchant of Death,” Bout is serving a 25-year sentence in the US for plotting to kill Americans. [NYT / Valerie Hopkins and Alan Yuhas]
• Since February, Griner has been in a Russian jail for drug-related charges. Griner pleaded guilty but insisted that she unintentionally packed cannabis oil in her luggage at her trial Wednesday. [CNN / Travis Caldwell and Anna Chernova]
• Blinken will discuss the arrangement with his Russian counterpart in the coming days. It will be their first talk since the Russian invasion of Ukraine In February. [AP / Matthew Lee and Eric Tucker]

US GDP decreased 0.9 percent in the second quarter, according to Department of Commerce statistics released Thursday. [Yahoo Finance / Alexandra Semenova]

• In recent weeks, gang wars in Haiti have killed hundreds. Police clashed with the warring groups on Wednesday as the violence spread to the capital, Port-au-Prince. [BBC / Vanessa Buschschlüter]
• Thursday, President Joe Biden received a fierce warning over Taiwan from Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone conversation that lasted over two hours. [AP / Chris Megerian and Zeke Miller]
• More than 10 inches of rain fell in eastern Kentucky over the last 24 hours. Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency on Thursday amid catastrophic flooding. [Accuweather / Allison Finch]

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“All of you might be surprised, but there should be no surprise because I’ve never walked away from anything in my life.”

[Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on the climate bill negotiations / Washington Post]

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