Congressional Democrats are reluctant to accept that their massive $2 trillion climate change and social spending package is dead.
As they try to revive the Build Back Better bill, they have at least one major hurdle to overcome: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
And he is signaling that he meant what he said in December when he came out in opposition to the bill.
Reporters asked Manchin on Wednesday about the bill. He responded, “What Build Back Better bill? I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”
CNN’s Manu Raju then asked Manchin if he had “any talks on the matter since December.”
“No, no, no, no,” the West Virginia senator said, followed by two words that are likely disappointing to Democrats hoping to revive the bill, “It’s dead.”
Sen. Joe Manchin, asked about Build Back Better, said: “What Build Back Better bill? I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 1, 2022
I asked him if he’s had any talks on the matter since December. “No, no, no, no. It’s dead.”
After months of negotiations, Manchin announced in December that he could not vote for Democrats’ $2 trillion spending package, which was essentially a wishlist of their legislative priorities.
“I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation, I just can’t. I tried everything humanly possible, I can’t get there,” he told Fox News.
In a separate statement, he said, “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.”
“My Democratic colleagues in Washington are determined to dramatically reshape our society in a way that leaves our country even more vulnerable to the threats we face. I cannot take that risk with a staggering debt of more than $29 trillion and inflation taxes that are real and harmful to every hard-working American at the gasoline pumps, grocery stores, and utility bills with no end in sight,” Manchin added.
Conservatives celebrated his comments after hoping for months that he would withhold his critical 50th vote in the Senate and deny Democrats the numbers they needed to pass the spending package.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden expressed optimism that “big chunks” of the Build Back Better bill would be able to pass.
And on Wednesday, Manchin did signal an openness to negotiating a new package that contains provisions from the Build Back Better bill.
But given his concerns about inflation, the deficit, and previous statements, any bill that is negotiated would likely be smaller as he previously said Democrats should “elect more progressives” if they want to pass the massive Build Back Better package.