Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) released an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, urging fellow Congress members to take a "strategic pause" and re-evaluate Democrats' $3.5 trillion spending package. While Manchin's pushback is not necessarily a surprise, those with skin in the game certainly didn't take long to call him out.
"Congress should hit a strategic pause on the budget-reconciliation legislation" to examine the pandemic's continuing trajectory and the potential long-term effects of inflation, Manchin argued. Furthermore, the senator said he "won't support a $3.5 trillion bill, or anywhere near that level of additional spending, without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs." Manchin went on to assert that by reducing the size of the package to "only what America can afford and needs to spend," the nation itself will grow stronger.
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