On Thursday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) announced that he wouldn’t support any budget reconciliation bill costing more than $1.5 trillion, a far smaller than a $3.5 trillion goal most Democrats are hoping for.
“We’re going to come to an agreement. I’m trying to make sure they understand I’m at $1.5 trillion,” Manchin told reporters on Thursday.
In July, Manchin reportedly had distributed his proposal for the infrastructure plan to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York). Manchin said in the document that he would support the bill only up to $1.5 trillion while suggesting setting the corporate tax rate to 25%.
“Leader Schumer never agreed to any of the conditions Sen. Manchin laid out; he merely acknowledged where Sen. Manchin was on the subject at the time,” said Schumer’s spokesperson. “Sen. Manchin did not rule out voting for a reconciliation bill that exceeded the ideas he outlined, and Leader Schumer made clear that he would work to convince Sen. Manchin to support a final reconciliation bill — as he has doing been for weeks.”
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) had already delayed the House infrastructure vote amid the disagreements between the centrists and the progressives in the Democratic party. The vote, however, was also delayed until Friday.
House progressives are furious over the efforts of centrist Democrats to block the $3.5 trillion bill. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-New York), one of the leading progressives in the party, offered strong criticism of Manchin.
“Ever notice how ‘deficit hawks’ vote for record-high defense spending, yet claim bills that help people & challenge lobbyists are ‘too much?’” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, citing The Hill’s link featuring Manchin.
Despite all the blowback that Manchin is receiving from his party, especially from the progressives, Democrats need his vote. In a 50-50 Senate, the Democrats can’t lose a single vote from their side if they want to pass a bill through budget reconciliation.
A new ad about Green Party candidate Jill Stein has been released by Vice President Kamala Harris'…
https://youtu.be/inbJpo6D4BQ Jennifer Lopez, campaigning with Kamala Harris on Oct. 31 in Nevada, said Donald Trump’s…
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn declared that the "gates of hell" would be unleashed if former…
https://youtu.be/JQCdk-71tG0 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris met with the woman who was the first in…
https://youtu.be/xc72fdqkaVc Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to put “country above party and above self” as…
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has reportedly been placed on a list of potential attorney general candidates…