US President Joe Biden has suffered a major blow to his bid to pass his signature $1.75 billion social spending bill, after Joe Manchin, a key Democratic senator from West Virginia, expressly rejects this package.
“I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I can not. I have tried everything humanly possible. I can’t go there,” Manchin said on Fox News Sunday, after weeks of intense negotiations with the White House and Democratic congressional leaders. “This is a no,” he added.
Biden last week acknowledged that negotiations on the law – which have attracted large-scale investments in the fight against climate change, and the care and education of children – could drag on for weeks, though ultimately he still hopes to “narrow our differences” with Manchin.
Manchin’s comments, however, suggest that the West Virginia senator will either circumvent the bill by opposing it outright, or is seeking more fundamental changes and narrowing of the law.
Manchin, who has long been a thorn in the side of the administration and represents a deeply conservative state, has warned that the bill could fuel inflation and increase America’s debt load. These proposals have been fiercely opposed by the White House and other Democrats because the legislation is overwhelmingly offset by tax increases on the wealthy and large companies.
Manchin’s position is important because the US Senate is divided equally, with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans. Biden’s party has a narrow advantage as vice president Kamala Harris can cast any favorable vote, but for this to happen, all Democrats need to support the Build Back Better plan, as it does not. Republican support. The BBB passed the US House of Representatives.
Failure to pass Biden’s plan would dash the president’s long-held hopes of securing legislation to begin rebuilding the US domestic economy – many provisions designed to boost the workforce. female participation, reduce income inequality and promote green energy.
It will also have major international ramifications – as a number of provisions are key to meeting US goals outlined at the COP26 climate talks as well as the OECD talks on representation. global corporate tax regime.
With Manchin’s backing, Biden has still passed more than $3 billion in economic legislation since taking office last January, including a $1.9 billion stimulus plan in March and spending bill 1, $2 billion for infrastructure passed last month. But the BBB legislation is particularly important to the progressive wing of the Democratic party, and its lengthy purge on Capitol Hill risks increasing tensions between the White House and Biden’s liberal establishment.
Bernie Sanders, a major supporter of the bill’s progress in the Senate, strongly criticized Manchin on Sunday, demanding that the bill remain up for a vote in the senate.
Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator, told CNN: “If he doesn’t have the guts to do the right thing for working families in West Virginia and the US, let him vote no in front of the whole world.
