WASHINGTON — Joe Manchin called a press conference on Monday to trash the latest draft of the Build Back Better bill that partly resulted from his own extensive negotiations with the White House, threatening Democrats’ hopes for quick action on their legislative agenda this week.
The West Virginia Democrat said he wanted more time to consider a $1.75 trillion framework for the measure, expressing concerns about the impact of such spending on inflation and the deficit.
“We must allow time for complete transparency and analysis on the impact of changes to our tax code and energy and climate policies,” Manchin said at a press conference on Capitol Hill.
In a message designed to undercut progressives, Manchin suggested he wants to wait for the Congressional Budget Office to evaluate the Build Back Better Act and estimate the fiscal impact of its various tax and spending components.
The bill text released last week would establish universal prekindergarten, subsidize child care for working parents and pour billions into green energy. But key provisions of the bill are temporary, such as a one-year extension of monthly child tax credit payments for most families in the U.S.
“As more of the real details outlining the basic framework are released, what I see are shell games, budget gimmicks that make the real cost of the so-called $1.75 trillion bill estimated to be almost twice that amount if the full time is run out, extended permanently,” Manchin added.
Democrats only put out the legislation’s text after extensive back-and-forth negotiations with Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) at the Capitol and the White House. President Joe Biden met with House Democrats to tout a “framework” agreement that lawmakers believed had buy-in from the holdout senators.
Apparently, it doesn’t.
Manchin said the House should go ahead and vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill the Senate approved in August. House progressives have refused to support it until the Senate gets on board with Build Back Better — Manchin essentially told them not to keep waiting.
“Holding this bill hostage is not going to work in getting my support for reconciliation,” he said.
Manchin’s reluctance to clearly endorse a $1.75 trillion framework for the bill is what helped drive dozens of House progressives last week to resist a vote on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill. Progressives wanted a firmer commitment from Manchin and Sinema that they will support Build Back Better if the House approves the $1.2 trillion infrastructure overhaul.
But Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Monday that her members would vote for both bills pending last-minute negotiations over prescription drug reform and immigration in the Build Back Better legislation. A proposal to make prescription drugs more affordable by allowing the government to regulate prices was not included in the current framework of the bill. Democrats are hoping to attach some form of prescription drug reform in the final version.
“We intend to pass both bills in the next couple of days,” Jayapal said in an interview on CNN. “The president says he can get 51 votes for the bill; we are going to trust him ... We’re tired of continuing to wait for one or two people.”
Progressives didn’t actually win an endorsement of the Build Back Better bill from either Manchin or Sinema, so passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill in the House would represent a leap of faith for progressive members who said they wanted firmer assurances from the senators.
The bulk of the Build Back Better legislation is meant to address the worsening climate crisis. It includes $550 billion in clean energy and climate investments, which administration officials are calling the “largest effort to combat climate change in American history.” Still, scientists say that’s not nearly enough to reverse the effects of climate change.
The framework also includes six years of funding for universal preschool; extends the child tax credit for one year, with monthly payments for households earning up to $150,000 per year; allows Medicare to cover the cost of hearing benefits; strengthens Medicaid and provides $150 billion to expand caregiving for older adults and disabled people.
Manchin suggested Monday that he might actually oppose some of those policies themselves, not just the budget gimmickry surrounding them or their effects on inflation and the national debt.
“How can I in good conscience vote for a bill that proposes massive expansion of social programs when vital programs like Social Security and Medicare face insolvency and benefits can start being reduced as soon as 2026 in Medicare and 2033 for Social Security,” Manchin said.
But Manchin has said all this before. He has repeatedly expressed the same antsiness about spending, welfare, taxes and the legislative process. His remarks may dash any hope of a quick resolution to the intraparty standoff this week, but Democrats are still likely on track to finish the two bills this year.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) didn’t appear alarmed by Manchin’s insistence on a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Build Back Better bill.
“We need a CBO score anyway, in order to process the bill through the Parliamentarian on the Senate side. None of what was said was exactly new. The tone alarmed people, but substantively nothing has changed,” Schatz tweeted.
The White House also shrugged off Manchin’s latest comments about the reconciliation bill.
“The plan the House is finalizing ... is fully paid for, will reduce the deficit, and brings down costs for health care, child care, elder care, and housing,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
“Experts agree: Seventeen Nobel Prize-winning economists have said it will reduce inflation. As a result, we remain confident that the plan will gain Senator Manchin’s support.”