Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Tuesday that there are no negotiations taking place regarding a revival of President Joe Biden’s massive social spending package.
“I’m really not going to talk about Build Back Better because I think I’ve been very clear on that. There is no negotiation going on at this time,” Manchin told the press outside of his office on Tuesday.
Politico Playbook further noted, “Senate Majority Whip [Dick Durbin] said as much this morning, noting that Democrats probably won’t return to BBB work until after addressing voting rights, a debate that’s likely to extend through Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”
Politico reported, “Democrats had hoped the year-end expiration of the expanded child tax credit might cajole Manchin into a deal. But his concerns are far broader and would require a significant rewrite of the legislation, extending to the bill’s short-term programs and longer-term financing.”
Manchin reportedly made the suggestion that centering the legislation on climate issues could be more successful.
“The climate thing is one that we probably could come to an agreement much easier than anything else,” Manchin said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) noted that there would be more to come on the president’s social spending package.
“I intend to hold a vote in the Senate on BBB and we’ll keep voting until we get a bill passed. The stakes are high for us to find common ground,” Schumer said on Tuesday.
An official from the Biden administration told Politico they would not “comment about any individual member, but we continue to be engaged with a wide range of senators about advancing the President’s Build Back Better” agenda.
As The Daily Wire reported last month, Manchin announced he would not be supporting the Build Back Better legislation, which was followed by outrage and attacks from the Left.
Manchin appeared on “Fox News Sunday” at the time and said, “this is a mammoth piece of legislation and I had my reservations from the beginning.”
“I’ve done everything humanly possible. And you know my concerns I had, and I still have these concerns,” Manchin said, going on to discuss inflation. “It’s real, it’s harming every West Virginian, it’s making it almost — difficult for them to continue to go to their jobs. The cost of gasoline, the cost of groceries, the cost of utility bills, all of these things are hitting in every aspect of their life and you start looking at — then you have the debt that we are carrying at $29 trillion, you have also the geopolitical unrest that we have. You have the COVID, the COVID variant, and that is wreaking havoc again, people are concerned.”
“…I’ve always said this, Bret: if I can’t go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it, and I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t. I’ve tried everything humanly possible, I can’t get there,” Manchin added.
After many on the Left attacked Manchin for his opposition to the legislation, some pointed out how their strategy could be ineffective at gaining his support in the long run.