The West Virginia Democrat undercut the president’s message while overseas.
A clearly frustrated Sen. Joe Manchin, dealing a new and heavy blow to President Joe Biden’s hopes for getting his agenda passed, said Monday that House Democrats should “stop playing games” with the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and told progressive lawmakers in the lower chamber that “holding the bill hostage” won’t earn his support for the $1.75 trillion social spending package.
Stressing his objections by calling an unusual news conference, the West Virginia Democrat suggested it will take much longer to reach a deal — if even possible — on Biden’s “Build Back Better” package, even as Biden and the White House were hoping for passage this week to back Biden while on his overseas trip.
On Monday, at an international conference on dealing with climate change, he touted the measure’s provisions on fighting the problem.
House progressives have repeatedly withheld support for the bipartisan infrastructure bill — or “BIF” for bipartisan infrastructure framework — using it as leverage to ensure more of their priorities, many of which Manchin opposes, are included in the social spending and climate policy bill.
“The political games have to stop. Twice now the House has balked at the opportunity to send the BIF legislation to the president,” Manchin said, calling for the House to hold an up-or-down vote on the bill. “Holding this bill hostage is not going to work in getting my support for the reconciliation bill.”
Monday’s remarks from Manchin are highly unusual, with Biden on the world stage and his economic agenda hanging in the balance. Manchin said he’s attempting to clarify “mischaracterizations” of his position he said have been made since Biden met with House Democrats on Thursday — just before heading overseas.
Within minutes, White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement countering Manchin’s concerns and stating the Biden White House is “confident” he will go along.
“Senator Manchin says he is prepared to support a Build Back Better plan that combats inflation, is fiscally responsible, and will create jobs,” her statement said. “The plan the House is finalizing meets those tests — it is fully paid for, will reduce the deficit, and brings down costs for health care, child care, elder care, and housing. Experts agree: Seventeen Nobel Prize-winning economists have said it will reduce inflation. As a result, we remain confident that the plan will gain Senator Manchin’s support.”
Manchin said he’s continuing to work in good faith on finding a compromise reconciliation package but seemed to call out progressives on their lack of willingness to budge.
“It is obvious compromise is not good enough for my colleagues in Congress,” Manchin said. “It is all or nothing. And the position doesn’t seem to change unless we agree to everything. Enough is enough.”
Though the administration has repeatedly said the bill costs $1.75 trillion, Manchin said the real cost is actually quite a bit higher, calling much of what he sees in the framework “budget gimmicks” and “shell games.”
In order to bring down the overall price tag of the larger bill, Democrats have proposed sunsetting some of their key programs earlier than first suggested. The Child Tax Credit, for example, would be extended for only one year. Subsidies under the Affordable Care Act are extended for just three years, and free universal pre-K is a six-year-long program.
“I would not support a bill that is this consequential without thoroughly understanding the impact it will have on our national debt, our economy and most importantly of the American people.”
He repeated his concerns about inflation, the insolvency of social safety net programs and the growing national debt. He’s opposed to expansion of Medicare, a key priority for progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“I will not support the reconciliation legislation without knowing how the bill will impact our debt and our economy and our country and we won’t know that until we work through the text,” Manchin said. ‘