Following months of negotiations, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va. Said on Sunday that he made up his mind to not back the Build Back Better Act, a huge social spending bill, FOX News reported.
Manchin told “Fox News Sunday” that an agreement on the bill was not achieved in his talks with U.S. President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“I’ve done everything humanly possible,” Manchin said, referring to the effort he exerted to attain a justifiable compromise on the legislation.
But in the end, the senator said that amid the current inflation and national debt, “geopolitical unrest,” and the health crisis, the Democrat-backed legislation was just more than enough.
“When you have these things coming at you the way they are right now … I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation,” the senator said. He said that he cannot vote for the legislation he cannot explain why he would vote for.
“This is a no,” he said. “I have tried everything I know to do.”
While there are some parts of the bill he agrees with, it was just too much for him to vote for.
“There’s a lot of good, but that bill is a mammoth piece of legislation,” he said, noting that the legislation is being pushed via budget reconciliation instead of being voted on like a common bill.
The Congress, Manchin said, should pay more attention to the new COVID-19 Omicron variant instead of pushing for the bill’s passage. He also mentioned the inflation concern that has “harmed a lot of Americans” and needs the solution of the government.
“Inflation is real, it’s not going away any time soon,” he said.
The West Virginia senator made a $1.7 trillion price tag proposal for the spending package.
“What we need to do is get our financial house in order, but be able to pay for what we do and do what we pay for,” he said.
