Manchin won't vote for Build Back Better, leaving Biden's flagship bill unlikely to pass
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Sunday that he will not vote for President Biden's landmark $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill, Fox News reports.
The Senate is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans and no Republicans support the bill, which means Biden cannot afford any defections. Without Manchin's vote, Build Back Better is unlikely to pass.
"This is a 'no,' on this piece of legislation," Manchin said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday when host Bret Baier asked him point-blank. (Baier is filling in after Chris Wallace's departure from Fox News last weekend, The Wrap reports.)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I have tried everything I know to do," Manchin added. He cited concerns about inflation, the national debt, and the "mammoth" cost of the bill as reasons for his decision and said Biden has been "wonderful to work with."
Manchin met with Biden last week to discuss what it would take for him to vote for the tax and spending bill, which would expand the social safety net and take steps to tackle climate change, but negotiations went "very poorly," Politico reported.
Catie Edmondson and Emily Cochrane of The New York Times wrote that the "centerpiece of Mr. Biden's domestic agenda" had suffered a "perhaps fatal blow" but suggested that Build Back Better might still pass early next year, albeit in a significantly pared-down form acceptable to Manchin.
Either way, it marks a massive political defeat for Biden, whose low approval ratings already portend serious losses for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Will Starmer's Brexit reset work?
Today's Big Question PM will have to tread a fine line to keep Leavers on side as leaks suggest EU's 'tough red lines' in trade talks next year
By The Week UK Published
-
How domestic abusers are exploiting technology
The Explainer Apps intended for child safety are being used to secretly spy on partners
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists finally know when humans and Neanderthals mixed DNA
Under the radar The two began interbreeding about 47,000 years ago, according to researchers
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Ex-FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about Bidens
Speed Read Alexander Smirnov claimed that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in a bribery scheme with Ukrainian energy company Burisma
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
South Korea impeaches president, eyes charges
Speed Read Yoon Suk Yeol faces investigations on potential insurrection and abuse of power charges
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden sets new clemency record, hints at more
Speed Read President Joe Biden commuted a record 1,499 sentences and pardoned 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Mysterious drones roil New Jersey, prompt FBI inquiry
Speed Read State and federal officials are both stumped and concerned
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
South Korean president vows to fight removal
Speed Read Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree and said he will not step down, despite impeachment efforts
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
FBI Director Christopher Wray to step down for Trump
speed read The president-elect had vowed to fire Wray so he could install loyalist Kash Patel
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Netanyahu takes the stand in corruption trial
Speed Read He is Israel's first sitting leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump talks pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, jailing rivals
Speed Read On NBC's "Meet the Press," the president-elect said he would pardon Capitol rioters and end constitutionally guaranteed "birthright" citizenship
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published