Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) believes that Congress will at least pass a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package.
On Tuesday, Manchin said, “If nothing else gets done, that bill will sooner or later.”
Watch the video below:
INFRASTRUCTURE: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) expresses optimism that the bipartisan infrastructure bill will pass even "if nothing else gets done" during a Senate Energy Committee hearing on updating mining legislation in the US. pic.twitter.com/lYegbsmPUJ
— Forbes (@Forbes) October 5, 2021
Manchin’s comments come after House Democrats failed to reach an agreement on a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a separate $3.5 trillion spending package.
Progressive Democrats in the House have warned they would block the infrastructure bill unless it was accompanied by the larger spending package. Meanwhile, moderates want a stand-alone vote in the infrastructure bill.
President Joe Biden met with House Democrats on Friday in an attempt to bridge the divide and get his agenda across the finish line.
However, after the meeting, moderate Democrats said they felt that the president had sided with the progressives and did not fight hard enough for the infrastructure legislation.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the president appeared to accept progressives’ demands that the two bills be passed together as he said, “There is no reason why both these bills couldn’t pass independently except that there are not the votes to do it that way. It’s a simple proposition.”
“And so, I think it makes sense I support both of them, and I think we can get them both done,” he added.
However, if the spending bill passes the House, its fate is uncertain in the Senate, where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Manchin have said they oppose a spending package with a $3.5 trillion price tag. If Sinema or Manchin voted against the bill, it would fail.
On Thursday, Manchin suggested that if Democrats need to “elect more liberals” if they want to pass a $3.5 trillion piece of legislation.
“I’ve never been a liberal in any way, shape, or form. There’s no one who ever thought I was. I’ve been governor, I’ve been secretary of state, I’ve [a] state legislator, I’ve been a U.S senator, and I have voted pretty consistently all my whole life,” he said.