Now it’s up to AOC and the Squad to sell their progressive colleagues on settling for most of what they demanded—and Manchin is guaranteed to make that process a nightmare. On Wednesday morning, Manchin tweeted his “serious concerns about the grave consequences… if Congress decides to spend another $3.5 trillion.” Manchin is known for creating news cycle-stealing political theater, but his most recent threat risks toppling months of his colleagues’ hard work.

Assuming Schumer can keep Manchin’s cost-cutting machete away from the reconciliation bill, there is no reason for progressives to reject what could soon be two landmark pieces of Democratic legislation. Not only does the beefed-up $3.5 trillion reconciliation plan lock down real, long-term funding for climate research and protection, it does so by validating the left’s central claim that climate change is infrastructure. And while some progressive groups may fear losing their outsider cachet by signing on to a Schumer-Biden deal, the prospect of mainstreaming climate infrastructure is a worthy reason for linking arms with centrist Dems.

The left can also crow that their fingerprints are all over Biden’s signature legislation, disproving the oft-repeated centrist criticism that progressives are better at communication than legislation. That’s especially true for the newest members of Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive A-Team, who can now tell voters they’ve turned progressive ideals into policy faster than any other lefties since Lyndon Johnson’s tenure in the 1960s. Progressives can’t let their pursuit of a perfect bill block a massive federal investment in their climate and care infrastructure agenda.