WASHINGTON – A day after declaring he can’t support President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation, Sen. Joe Manchin continued to defend his stance.
During a December 20 appearance on MetroNews’ Talkline statewide radio program, Manchin (D-W.Va.) said the White House and other Democratic leaders wanted to pressure him to change his mind rather than change the legislation to address his concerns.
“I’m not blaming anybody,” Manchin told Talkline host Hoppy Kercheval. “I knew where they were and I knew what they could and could not do. …
“They figured, ‘Surely to God we can move one person. Surely, we can badger and beat one person up. Surely we can get enough protesters to make that person uncomfortable enough they’ll just say, ‘Okay, I’ll vote for anything just quit.'”
Manchin said that isn’t what West Virginians do.
“Guess what?” Manchin said. “I’m from West Virginia. I’m not from where they’re from where you can beat the living crap out and people and they’ll be submissive.”
On Sunday, Manchin said he couldn’t vote for the Build Back Better Act, the social and environmental package with an official price tag of $2 trillion. He has voice concerns about the legislation related to increasing inflation and fears of COVID variants such as Omicron.
“If I can’t go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it. And I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t,” Manchin said Sunday on Fox News Sunday. “I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer both have suggested the legislation should be brought to a vote. Manchin said he would be fine with that.
“Please put it on the floor,” Manchin said on Talkline. Maybe it will sink in that we have to look in a different direction than this far-reaching social agenda.”
On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said “the door remains open” on the framework of the program moving forward.
“I can’t speak for Senator Manchin on what has upset him,” Psaki told reporters. “I’ll let him speak to that himself with more specifics, if he chooses to and he may or may not choose to, and that’s his prerogative. …
“The door remains open. The president considers him (Manchin) a longtime friend, someone who's worked with on a range of initiatives and objectives, over the course of the last several years that they've known each other and that's really where we're coming at this from.”
According to Politico, Biden and Manchin spoke Sunday night. Those familiar with the conversation said it “ended with a sense that negotiations would, in fact, resume around the Build Back Better Act in some form in the new year. The tone of conversation was cordial and it was agreed that they would speak again on legislative priorities.”
Politico also reported Manchin was upset when the administration put out a statement accepting a delay in the legislation that named him personally after being told he wouldn’t be mentioned “because his family had already been the target of abuse and he didn’t want to be singled out.”
“The senator then snapped at White House aides and told them that he was done negotiating,” Politico reported. “The West Wing interpreted that as meaning that current talks were done but could pick up again next year. But Manchin meant that he was totally walking away – which he said publicly a few days later on Fox News Sunday, in a move that blindsided and outraged the White House.”
Manchin also said fellow lawmakers hadn’t worked to “shrink” the bill, saying the social programs in the legislation would need to be paid for over 10 years to garner his support.
But other Democrats deny Manchin’s claims that the bill would increase inflation and budget concerns. Earlier this month, a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the actual cost of the legislation would be about $5 trillion rather than $2 trillion. Democrats also denied that claim.
On Monday, Kercheval asked Manchin if there’s still a place for him in the Democratic Party.
“I would hope there are still Democrats who feel like I do,” he said. “I’m fiscally responsible and socially compassionate.
“If there’s no Democrats like that they’ll have to push me where they want me.”