AOC: I'll support Joe Manchin's priorities, and he can support mine
There is no shortage of chaos on Capitol Hill this week, and plenty of it has to do with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and their party's sweeping spending package, for which a final framework and price tag has yet to be agreed upon (much to progressives' chagrin).
The party's left-wing faction in the House has therefore begun to protest, threatening to vote "no" on the bipartisan infrastructure bill coming to the floor Thursday if reconciliation needs aren't met. But why don't they trust in the process, and its two key sticking points (i.e. Manchin, Sinema), to make good on passing the legislation? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) detailed some of that skepticism for NBC News' Garrett Haake on Wednesday.
First and foremost, progressives already agreed to lower the spending package price tag from $10 trillion to $3.5 trillion, Ocasio-Cortez told Haake. "Then several months ago, we had an agreement with [Manchin], with everybody else throughout the entire party ... we will move forward on this $3.5 trillion. And that we will link the [bipartisan infrastructure bill] and the Build Back Better Act together."
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Ocasio-Cortez continued that "some folks" in the party have since "reneged on that agreement, and that's where I think we have ... an issue here of trust." Ostensibly, she is referring to Manchin, as well as Sinema.
"Let's stick to the original plan. I will support Manchin's priorities. He can support my priorities, and we can all win, and working families can get childcare, health care, climate action, and infrastructure investment."
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