Sen. Manchin Still Unsure About Biden Spending Bill

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) says he is still not committed to voting for President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion social spending bill after months of negotiations and compromises meant to get the West Virginia Democrat on board with the plan, a troublesome sign for the bill’s prospects as the 2022 midterms draw nearer.

Manchin discussed the bill during The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit on Wednesday. The summit was attended by some senior White House officials, Manchin and other lawmakers, and business leaders representing an array of different industries to discuss America’s current and future economy.

Manchin has in the past voted with Democrats to pass the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package meant to address ongoing economic consequences of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1.2 trillion package that furnished funding for hard infrastructure.

But after all this spending, Manchin says he is hesitant to commit to voting for another Biden policy priority: the $1.85 trillion Build Back Better Act.

The bill passed the House 220–213 after months of missed deadlines, but the Senate poses a greater challenge.

In the Senate, Democrats hold the thinnest-possible majority: 50 Senate seats plus the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. But Harris can only use her vote in the event of a tie, which means that all 50 Democrats must be on board with the bill for her vote to count.

And Democrats are far from united behind the monumental spending bill.

Since September, Manchin has advised against quick passage of the bill, which was originally a $3.5 trillion package, saying that it will increase inflation that is already reaching record levels and rising.

After weeks of negotiations at the White House, Democrats unveiled a compromise bill that they hoped would satisfy the West Virginia maverick. But this has not happened: Manchin has continued to advise caution before passing the bill.

Speaking at a Nov. 1 press conference after the White House unveiled the smaller compromise budget, Manchin said: “I will not support the reconciliation bill without knowing how the bill will impact our debt and our economy and our country. We won’t know that until we work through the text.”

At the CEO Council Summit on Tuesday, Manchin indicated that his view toward the bill has not much changed.

“The unknown we’re facing today is much greater than the need that people believe in this aspirational bill that we’re looking at,” Manchin argued, saying: “We’ve gotta make sure we get this right. We just can’t continue to flood the market, as we’ve done.”

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Tweets mentioned:

https://twitter.com/Sen_JoeManchin/status/1458443966135902221

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