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Schumer says Senate plans to vote on Build Back Better after Manchin said he's
opposed to signature Biden bill
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SCHUMER SAYS SENATE PLANS TO VOTE ON BUILD BACK BETTER AFTER MANCHIN SAID HE'S
OPPOSED TO SIGNATURE BIDEN BILL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Matthew Brown ,  Joey Garrison   | USA TODAY

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Congressional Democrats, rocked by Sen. Joe Manchin's opposition to
President Joe Biden’s signature social spending and climate bill, will press
forward with votes on their priorities regardless, Senate leadership said.



In a letter to colleagues Monday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,
D-N.Y., wrote that the Senate would consider legislation addressing voting
rights and the Build Back Better bill at the start of the new year. 

Though Schumer touted Congress’ milestones this session, including Democrats’
economic and pandemic relief package and a bipartisan infrastructure bill, the
majority leader acknowledged “this session has also led to moments of deep
discontent and frustration."

One of those moments came Sunday, when Manchin said he wouldn't vote for the
roughly $2 trillion Build Back Better Act, which includes national
prekindergarten, subsidized child care and actions to address climate change.



Biden and Democratic leaders had negotiated with the West Virginia Democrat for
months in hopes of passing the measure.  

“Neither that delay, nor other recent pronouncements, will deter us from
continuing to try to find a way forward,” Schumer wrote.



Without Manchin’s vote, it is unlikely Biden’s domestic policy package will pass
in an evenly divided Senate. Schumer indicated that even if the bill will
fail on the Senate floor, it will be brought to a vote "so that every member of
this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor,
not just on television." 

The White House released a sharp critique of Manchin on Sunday.

“If his comments on Fox and written statement indicate an end to that effort,
they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach
of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House
and Senate,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote in a statement.




She pushed back on each of Manchin’s stated objections to the bill’s climate and
economic provisions.

“We will not relent in the fight to help Americans with their child care, health
care, prescription drug costs, and elder care – and to combat climate change,”
Psaki wrote. “We will find a way to move forward next year.”


MANCHIN KNOCKS WHITE HOUSE STAFF

Manchin, in a 14-minute radio interview Monday on West Virginia MetroNews, said
he figured the White House would “come back strong” in retaliation to
his announcement Sunday on Fox News. Recounting his decision, he pointed to
actions by White House officials in addition to concerns about the scope of the
legislation.

“I just got to the wit’s end, and they know the real reason what happened. They
won't tell you, and I'm not going to,” Manchin said. “It’s not the president.
This is staff. And they drove some things, they put some things out that were
absolutely inexcusable. They know what it is.”



Biden and Democratic leaders sought to pass the Build Back Better legislation
through a process called budget reconciliation that would require a simple
majority – meaning all Democratic senators plus Vice President Kamala Harris’
tiebreaking vote – in the evenly divided Senate. Moving forward, Manchin said he
will consider components of the president’s agenda only through the Senate’s
committee system, a path that would take months and not guarantee passage.

“It needs to go through a process,” he said.

Manchin said the White House refused to budge from demands by progressive
Democrats who opposed provisions backed by Manchin, such as his push for work
requirements to receive child tax credits.



“They couldn't get there. They couldn't take away all the social reforms that
they had pent up for years," he said.

He said his Democratic critics wrongly assumed they could “beat one person up”
and force him to move on the Build Back Better Act by targeting him with
protesters. "Guess what? I'm from West Virginia. I'm not from where they're
from, and they can just beat the living crap out of people and think they'll be
submissive.”



Manchin singled out a push by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to hold a Senate vote
on the legislation.

“Bernie, please put it on the floor. Maybe it will sink in that we just have to
look at a different direction in this far-reaching social agenda of yours," he
said.

Asked about his future with the Democratic Party, Manchin said, "I’m fiscally
responsible and socially compassionate. Now if there's no Democrats like that,
then they can push me wherever they want me."

During Monday's White House press briefing, Psaki declined to say whether Biden
and Manchin talked M. Psaki deflected several questions about Manchin, 
including the senator's accusations about White House staffers. She said Biden
and Manchin are "longtime friends" and that Biden is going to "work like hell"
to pass the Build Back Better bill.

"What's most on the president's mind is the risk of inaction," she said. 


SENATE WILL ALSO TAKE UP FILIBUSTER, VOTING RIGHTS 

In his letter, Schumer took aim at Senate Republicans over congressional
gridlock, writing that if they “continue to abuse the filibuster and prevent the
body from considering this bill, the Senate will then consider changes to any
rules which prevent us from debating and reaching final conclusion on important
legislation.”




Republicans and some Democrats oppose changes to the filibuster, a legislative
hurdle Republicans have used to block Democratic bills this year.

Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have opposed  changes to Senate rules.
Many other Democrats, ignited by fears over restrictive voter laws enacted in
state legislatures, have renewed calls to change Senate rules to enact voting
rights.

As on Build Back Better, Schumer indicated the public deserves to have a clear
understanding of each lawmaker's position.

”I believe our constituents deserve to know which senators choose to hide behind
ill-conceived and absurd rules and which senators prefer to restore Senate floor
procedures to better align with the founders' intentions,” Schumer wrote.




REACTION FROM CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS

Manchin’s opposition to Build Back Better, announced on "Fox News Sunday," was
swiftly condemned by most of the party. Moderate House Democrats, including
Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Conor Lamb, D-Pa., criticized the move
alongside liberal colleagues such as Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Pramila
Jayapal, D-Wash. 

Sanders backed a floor vote on Build Back Better, as did Rep. Ayanna Pressley,
D-Mass.

“We’ve been dealing with Mr. Manchin for month after month after month. But 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," Sanders
said Sunday during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

"The Senate must return to session immediately and bring this historic and
transformational bill to a vote so Senator Manchin – and every Republican who
has opposed it from the very beginning – can demonstrate, on the record, the
contempt they have for their constituents,” Pressley wrote in a statement.

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