A Biden Administration official said the senator recently discussed the bill with the president, but Sen. Joe Manchin said there have been no negotiations with the White House over the past two weeks.
Manchin left his office after speaking with Biden about his long-stalled domestic agenda. Scott Applewhite
The Associated Press.
Manchin told a group of reporters at the U.S. Capitol that he has not had any talks with the White House since he said he could not support the proposal.
White House officials were "confident" that a deal could still be reached despite the statement, according to the account given by Bernstein.
Manchin and Biden spoke on December 20, though details of their conversation are not known.
The White House did not respond to a request from Forbes regarding Manchin's comments.
Manchin said that there is no negotiation going on at the moment.
The Democrats had been talking for months about a proposal that would increase funding for social programs and initiatives to combat climate change. Manchin had been a critical holdout throughout the process, constantly expressing concerns about how much the spending might add to the national debt and whether it would further fuel historically high rates of inflation. Manchin's support is necessary since Democrats have no Republican support and are trying to pass the bill with a simple majority in the Senate through the budget reconciliation process. The White House released a statement saying that Manchin had made a sudden and inexplicable reversal of his position after his statements to Fox News. The White House vowed to keep negotiating after Manchin said he was against the bill, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared she was not deterred.
There is a structure called the Tangent.
Voting rights reform legislation is a critical piece of Democrats' agenda, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer threatened to change the filibuster to get it done. Manchin doesn't seem to agree with his colleagues on that action. I would like to see all the options we have.
Further viewing is possible.
Biden and Manchin talked about the build back better bill after Manchin's public rejection.
Manchin says he won't support build back better.
The Democrats will press forward with the spending package after Manchin's opposition.
