Manchin Says His Counteroffer On Spending Bill No Longer An Option

Topline

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told reporters Thursday Democrats will have to completely start over on writing a social spending bill considered critical to the party’s legislative agenda, after negotiations abruptly ended on a $1.8 trillion proposal last month when Manchin said “I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation.”

Key Facts

Manchin told CNN that Democrats will be starting with a “clean sheet of paper” and did not identify how much he would like the new bill to cost.

As he’d done in the past, Manchin identified historically high rates of inflation as key to his opposition, but struck an optimistic tone, saying once inflation declines and the Covid pandemic wanes “then we’ll be rolling.”

Manchin also confirmed he’s pulled a $1.8 trillion counteroffer he reportedly sent the White House last month, which notably did not include expanding the child tax credit—a cornerstone of the bill backed by Biden and Democratic leadership.

What We Don’t Know

Where negotiations stand. The White House has indicated negotiations are ongoing, but Manchin has denied those claims. It was widely reported Manchin spoke with President Joe Biden on December 20, the day after Fox News aired the interview where Manchin torpedoed efforts to pass the earlier spending bill, but details of their conversation remain unknown. 

Key Background

Democrats negotiated the spending bill, called the Build Back Better (BBB) plan, for months last year but ultimately failed to convince Manchin to get onboard with the proposal, despite nearly cutting an earlier $3.5 trillion version of the bill in half. Manchin, along with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), remained key holdouts on the bill, worrying about how much it would contribute to already rampant inflation and whether it would increase the national debt. The lack of support from just one Democratic senator was enough to kill the bill, since the chamber is evenly split. The previous version of BBB included more than $550 billion in funding for clean energy, $400 billion for early childhood development programs and $300 billion for expanding Medicaid.

Tangent

Manchin and Sinema have also been a thorn in fellow Democrats’ sides on voting rights reform. Both Manchin and Sinema sided with Republicans Wednesday night in voting against changing filibuster rules to lower the 60-vote threshold for ending debate on the voting rights bill, effectively ending any hope of passing a sweeping bill in the current Congress.

What To Watch For

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday BBB might have to be renamed ahead of negotiations on a reworked bill, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Further Reading

BBB Still Stalled? Manchin Said He Hasn’t Talked With White House, But Biden Official Claims Otherwise (Forbes)

Manchin Says He Won’t Support Build Back Better—White House Calls It ‘Inexplicable Reversal’ (Forbes)

What’s In Democrats’ $1.8 Trillion Plan? Free Preschool, Child Tax Credit Expansion, $1.5 Trillion In New Taxes (For The Wealthy) And More (Forbes)

Senate Democrats Fail To Advance Voting Rights Bill — And Fall Short Of Changing Filibuster (Forbes)