President Biden's plan to stuff nearly every long-held Democratic priority into his signature domestic policy bill has buckled under the weight of its ambitions, with the final senator needed to push it over the finish line.
For months, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia has warned the president and congressional leaders that he was uncomfortable with the breadth of the bill to fight climate change, continue monthly checks to parents, establish universal prekindergarten and invest in a wide range of spending and tax cuts.
He insisted that the bill be smaller to fit the framework of less than $2 trillion that Mr. Biden announced this fall. Mr. Manchin feared that the bill could saddle future generations with debt and fuel rapid inflation.
Mr. Manchin dealt Mr. Biden a blow. He said on "Fox News Sunday" that he couldn't vote to continue with the legislation. I can't get there.
Shortly after the interview, Mr. Manchin issued a statement saying he couldn't move ahead with the legislation.
He said that he couldn't take that risk with a debt of more than $29 trillion and inflation taxes that are harmful to every hard-working American at the gasoline pumps, grocery stores and utility bills.
The White House officials who spent weeks trying to get Mr. Manchin to support Mr. Biden's bill appeared betrayed by the senator's declaration.
The White House said in a statement on Sunday that Mr. Manchin submitted an outline for a bill that was the same size and scope as the President's framework.
If his comments on Fox and written statement indicate an end to that effort, it will be a betrayal of his commitments to the president and the Senate.
The Republicans celebrated Mr. Manchin's statement that the bill was bad policy that even their own party couldn't get behind.
Mr. Manchin has left the possibility of a path forward, even though Mr. Biden initially set out to travel. The White House and some Democrats believe there is still a chance to change the bill to meet Mr. Manchin's demands.
The effort would start with responding to the concerns Mr. Manchin has long expressed, including dropping some spending efforts in order to focus on a smaller list of programs that would last a full decade and be paid for largely by raising taxes on high earners and large corporations.
The White House would have to make difficult choices about which party priorities to leave on the cutting room floor, which would anger progressive Democratic lawmakers and many of the people who voted for Mr. Biden.
Mr. Biden had a $4 trillion agenda to change the government's role in the economy, fight climate change and invest in America's children. He sliced off some of it for a bipartisan infrastructure bill he signed into law this fall, and has since narrowed it down in negotiations with moderates and progressives in his party.
The president thought he had found the sweet spot. He announced a framework that he said would be able to get majority support in the House and 50 votes in the Senate using a parliamentary process called budget reconciliation. Ms. Psaki said that Mr. Manchin told the president in a meeting in Delaware that he would support the framework.
The Democratic leaders had two options when they scaled back the bill. Tax credits for climate change, an expanded benefit for parents that is meant to fight child poverty, and making pre-K free for 3- and 4-year-olds are some of the programs they could focus on. They could pack as many programs as possible into the bill in order to avoid ballooning the budget deficit, and hope that lawmakers would extend them in the future.
The leaders chose the pack-it-in strategy because of the competing priorities of the groups in their coalition. Budget hawks like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and centrist Democratic groups like the Progressive Policy Institute want a more targeted approach to the budget.
Mr. Manchin was worried that temporary spending would become permanent without offsets and that would add to the debt. The Congressional Budget Office showed ballooning deficits as a result of Republicans asking them to analyze an imaginary Build Back Better bill.
White House officials insisted that Mr. Biden would not extend any programs without offsets. But Mr. Manchin was not moved. Ms. Psaki said that she would not relent in the fight to help Americans with their child care, health care, prescription drug costs, and elder care. The fight for build back better is important. We will find a way to move forward next year.
If Mr. Biden wants to win over the final holdout vote, he needs to make the spending programs permanent.
White House officials insist that the bill must include robust action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, though it's not clear which programs Mr. Biden would favor. The child tax credit was extended by the bill, but it will need to be modified in order to not consume most of the bill. Other groups want Mr. Biden to focus on helping children.
It would bring risks of its own. The groups could decline to support the bill. Legislators could threaten to vote against it. The White House was not willing to take on those risks as they crafted the bill. Mr. Manchin wants the administration to confront them.
