Sen. Joe Manchin: WH Staff ‘Real Reason’ He Shut Down Biden’s Social Spending Bill
E&E News reports that Democrats are “seething” because Manchin “killed” the bill.
MSN reports that Democrats are “outraged” at Manchin for “opposing Biden’s bill.”
However, Manchin is pushing back saying the blame for the failure of the bill falls on the shoulders of the White House staff. The New York Post reports that Manchin claims “White House Staff are the ‘real reason’ for the death of Biden’s social spending bill.”
To great applause from fiscal conservatives, Manchin effectively stopped the passage of the $2.2 trillion “Build Back Better Act by breaking the 50-50 vote in the Senate.
Manchin’s reservation in supporting the bill is not new and should have come as no surprise. In a Sunday interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Manchin said he was a “no” vote because he was concerned about the bill’s impact on inflation, which is already at a 39-year high.
In an interview with Hoppy Kercheval, a West Virginia radio host, Manchin expressed his concerns with the financial impact the BBB bill would likely have on America’s economy and his frustration with White House staff.
Pointing to the source of the primary problem, Manchin said, It’s not the president—[it’s] the staff.”
Manchin noted he was taken aback by the way staff “drove some things” and the way they “put some things out,” noting that the process was “inexcusable.”
Manchin added to his cryptic message saying, “I’m always willing to work and listen to try. I just got to the wit’s end and they know the real reasons what happened.”
The Senator also noted that staff and interest groups attempted to “beat the living crap” out of him to gain his support for the bill.
“They figured,” Manchin said, “Surely…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 will just say, ‘OK, I’ll vote for anything, just quit.’ Well, guess what? I’m from West Virginia. I’m not from where they’re from and they can beat the living crap out of people and think they will be submissive.”
Leaving a little room for optimism for his party, Manchin offered a few bartering points which could change his vote on an amended bill.
He mentioned a “$200,000 income cap” as a condition for the proposed increase of child tax credits and a guarantee that the wealthy were not eligible to receive the current bill’s proposed $12,500 rebate on electric vehicle purchases.
The White House has repeatedly said that the bill would cost Americans no more than $2.2 trillion. However, the Congressional Budget Office disputed that claim, noting that the bill’s true cost would be approximately $4.5 trillion.
Manchin has been a thorn in the side of progressive spending bills attempted to be pushed through by the Biden administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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