Democratic senators say that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has made it clear to them through what they say are stalling tactics that he has no desire to vote on President Biden’s sweeping climate and social spending agenda before Christmas.
They say that if Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) schedules a vote on a motion to proceed to the Build Back Better Act before Christmas that it will get the support of 49 members of the Democratic caucus and that Manchin’s vote is the only question mark.
While Democratic negotiators acknowledge there are still intraparty disagreements to iron out, such as the details of a proposal to raise the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, and that there’s a big backlog of work at the parliamentarian’s office, they insist everything could get done by Christmas if they had Manchin on board.
The problem, Democratic senators say, is that Manchin is showing no sign of getting behind the $2 trillion bill anytime this month.