Sen. Joe Manchin said there is not enough time to produce the legislative framework for a massive spending bill that House Democrats are demanding in exchange for supporting a critical infrastructure bill on Thursday.
“No, it’s not possible,” Manchin told reporters as he walked from the Senate chamber back to his office building.
Manchin’s prediction will likely dash the hopes of House Democratic leaders who sought an agreement with Senate Democrats by tomorrow on a social welfare spending package that would cost up to $3.5 trillion.
PELOSI COULD POSTPONE THURSDAY INFRASTRUCTURE VOTE
Without that agreement, House liberals have pledged to block a planned vote on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill President Joe Biden hoped to sign into law in the immediate future.
Liberal Democrats say they plan to block the infrastructure bill in order to maintain leverage with party centrists on the cost and scope of the social welfare spending package.
Democrats want the bill to pay for a broad array of new government programs including free preschool and community college, paid family and medical leave, expanded Medicaid and Medicare benefits, extended child tax credits, and green energy policies aimed at ending the use of fossil fuels. The package requires approval from all 50 Senators, but Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona want to lower the cost of the measure and change some policy provisions.
Manchin is in no rush to strike a deal on the bigger spending package but is eager to see Biden sign the infrastructure bill, which is bipartisan and would fund roads, bridges, water projects, expanded broadband, and new electric vehicle charging stations.
Manchin told reporters he wants the House to pass the infrastructure bill first, allowing Biden to sign it into law. After that, Manchin said, “What’s possible is to sit down and have good, frank negotiations with Senators.”
Top Democrats on Wednesday gave varying predictions about whether they’ll bring up the infrastructure package Thursday.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is unlikely to take up the bill if her own party is planning to block it.
“We take it one step at a time,” the California Democrat told reporters who asked if the vote would happen.
Pelosi said she wants to bring up the bill but also wants it to pass, adding, “Anything that strengthens the hand of a Speaker helps.”
A deal among Senate Democrats on the bigger spending package would have helped Pelosi round up enough liberals in her caucus to pass the infrastructure bill.
Pelosi blamed the Senate for failing to come up with an accord.
“I can’t keep a commitment that the Senate has made impossible to do,” Pelosi said.
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House liberals say Pelosi now lacks the votes to pass the bill and Manchin’s latest comments suggest nothing will change by tomorrow.
A group of liberal Senate Democrats called on the House to hold off on the infrastructure bill until the bigger spending package can be finalized with Manchin and Sinema.
“Essentially, what we have believed from the very beginning is that both bills have to go forward in tandem,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and a socialist, told reporters Wednesday.
