WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin all but delivered a death blow to President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion domestic initiative, throwing his party’s agenda into jeopardy, infuriating the White House and leaving angry colleagues desperate to salvage what’s left of a top priority.
The West Virginia senator’s announcement that he could not support the bill, delivered on “Fox News Sunday” after only a cursory heads-up to the president’s staff, potentially derails not only Biden’s “Build Back Better Act,” but sparks fresh questions over passing voting rights legislation and potentially other significant bills that would require his vote in the 50-50 Senate.
Responding to an outcry from fellow Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said early Monday that the Senate would vote on both in the new year — and keep voting on Biden’s big initiative “until we get something done.”
“We simply cannot give up,” Schumer said in a letter to colleagues.
Republicans heralded Manchin for a maverick move in joining all GOP senators now halting Biden’s big social services and climate change package. But progressive Democrats mercilessly portrayed Manchin as a deal-breaker who failed to keep his word, and even moderates heaped on criticism after months of talks. Whether the senator, a lifelong Democrat, is making a definitive break from his party also became part of the discussion.
“We knew he would do this,” tweeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, a leader of House progressives, said Manchin can no longer say “he is a man of his word.”
“If he doesn’t have the courage to do the right thing for the working families of West Virginia and America, let him vote no in front of the whole world,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont who chairs the Budget Committee, said on CNN.
With Congress recessed for the Christmas holidays, the next steps are highly uncertain. Some Democrats insisted on recalling the Senate to session to force an immediate vote, though that appeared unlikely. Others were fast at work trying to win back Manchin’s support and pick up the pieces of what one aide compared to a jigsaw puzzle tossed on the floor. Biden’s reputation as a seasoned dealmaker hung in the balance.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to strike an optimistic chord, assuring House Democrats and others that an agreement could still be reached early in the new year. Rather than denouncing Manchin — her statement Sunday night didn’t mention him by name — Pelosi encouraged members of her caucus to highlight the measure’s impact on constituents while “barnstorming” the nation in the weeks ahead.
“It is imperative that American families know how this once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure will improve their lives,” Pelosi said.
Manchin said on Sunday that after five-and-half months of negotiations among Democrats, “I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation.”
Manchin said: “I can’t get there.”
While Manchin appeared steadfast in his opposition, his choice of words about this specific bill seemed to keep open the door to continued talks with Biden and fellow Democrats over reshaping it.
Yet the West Virginia senator all but said the bill would die unless it met his consistent demands for a smaller package — something that would be hard for many Democrats in the narrowly divided Congress to accept, even if they had few other options.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki unleashed an unusually hardball response to a lawmaker who had been personally courted by the president, and whose vote is crucial.
