Political Rewind: Inflation Reduction Act; McMichaels sentencing; ACLU abortion law challenge

Caption

Travis McMichael, left, speaks with his attorney Jason B. Sheffield , center, during his sentencing, alone with his father Greg McMichael and neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan in the Glynn County Courthouse, Friday, Dec. 7, 2022, in Brunswick, Ga. The three were found guilty in the February 2020 slaying of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.

Credit: AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, Pool

The panel 

Kristal Dixon, reporter, Axios Atlanta 

Patricia Murphy, columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Rahul Bali, politics reporter, WABE

Riley Bunch, @ribunchreports, public policy reporter, Georgia Public Broadcasting

The breakdown 

1. Inflation Reduction Act passes in the Senate. 

• The bill attempts to tackle climate change, the high cost of prescription drugs and lower the deficit by roughly $300 billion.
• It passed in the Senate after a series of marathon votes over the weekend. 
  • The measure sat at 50-50, with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaker. 
• The House plans to take up the bill at the end of the week and then send it to President Biden for his signature.

2. Sen. Raphael Warnock's proposal to cap insulin at $35 per month for everyone was blocked.

• The cap, which was proposed by Warnock, D-Ga., needed 60 votes to pass and remain in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
  • It ultimately failed by a 57-43 vote.
• Republicans stripped the proposal for a cap for those under private insurance. 
  • A measure to cap the price of the medicine for those on Medicare did remain in the bill. 

3. . Ahmaud Arbery's murderers sentenced for federal hate crimes. 

• Travis McMichael was sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery. 
  • McMichael killed Arbery in 2020 in Brunswick.
    • He was already sentenced to life in prison from the state trial. 
• Travis McMichael's father, Greg McMichael, and their neighbor William Bryan will be sentenced later today. 

4. ACLU challenge to Georgia's abortion law.

• The ACLU, reproductive health care providers and pro-choice advocates filed a lawsuit in Fulton County late last month, framing it as a state constitutional challenge against Georgia's LIFE Act. 
  • The first hearing for that case is this afternoon. 

5. Former President Donald Trump signals he would be open to endorsing Gov. Brian Kemp in his run for reelection. 

• Kemp and Trump have been opposed since the Georgia governor refused to go along with Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. 
• In May, Kemp bested Trump-backed candidate David Perdue. 
• Trump made the comments about a possible endorsement while speaking to Fox News Digital over the weekend.

Tuesday on Political Rewind: The AJC's Tamar Hallerman joins the panel.