Posted 2 years ago
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin on Sunday said he opposes using a maneuver that would enable his party to pass U.S. President Joe Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal without Republican support and instead would favor a smaller, more targeted reform bill with the goal of winning bipartisan support. With the Senate evenly divided, to pass any legislation, even using budget reconciliation all 50 Democrats must agree, or win over at least one Republican for any lost Democrats. This has given Senator such as Manchin, a Democrat from a conservative state huge sway over President Biden's agenda.
President Biden's plan is estimated to cost around 2.3 trillion dollars, and Republicans have proposed a counter offer around $568 billion; leaving a huge gap between the parties. While Manchin will still likely support a bill more in line with the Democratic proposal, he said that while more money is needed for health and child care, it was hard to build public support for a massive bill that goes beyond what he called "traditional" infrastructure needs. This likely includes many of the more liberal proposals such as $400 billion for in-home and community based care for the elderly and disabled as well as $100 billion for schools and child care facilities.
Topic: Politics
Tags: Senate infrastructure bill Joe Manchin