Manchin will oppose Build Back Better, killing its chance of passing

(The Center Square) – One of the country’s most moderate Democrats, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia, will not vote for President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Plan, effectively killing the legislation in the Senate.

Democrats have been trying to court Manchin’s support for the plan over the past few months, but the senator has remained an uncertain swing vote since the bill was proposed in March. After trying to work with his Democratic colleagues to scale down the bill, he ultimately said he would be a “no” vote on Sunday.

“I can’t vote for it,” Manchin said while appearing on Fox News Sunday. “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.”

Although Democrats brought the bill’s final price tag below $2 trillion as Manchin had requested, the senator said its structure would cause the bill to have a much higher price tag in the long run. Rather than limiting the annual spending on certain priorities or taking out some of the provisions, Manchin said lawmakers just reduced the length of some of the proposed programs. Then, if the programs are then extended by Congress, the price tag would be the same.

“That’s not being genuine,” Manchin said. “If everything was paid for in full, it would be $4.5 trillion.”

Manchin said Congress needs to focus on issues affecting Americans and West Virginians right now, such as the omicron variant of COVID-19, inflation and the $29 trillion in national debt. He said the rising inflation is real, and not transitory, and is affecting every West Virginian. He added the inflation is causing West Virginians to see higher gas prices, more expensive groceries and higher utility bills.

“For five and a half months,” Manchin said in a statement following the interview, “I have worked as diligently as possible meeting with President [Joe] Biden, Majority Leader [Chuck] Schumer, Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and my colleagues on every end of the political spectrum to determine the best path forward despite my serious reservations. I have made my concerns clear through public statements, op-eds and private conversations. My concerns have only increased as the pandemic surges on, inflation rises and geopolitical uncertainty increases around the world.”

Manchin urged lawmakers to work on infrastructure spending in a more bipartisan manner.

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