Sen. Joe Manchin said on Monday threw cold water on President Joe Biden’s economic agenda as he railed against the $1.75 trillion social safety net expansion bill Congressional Democrats are negotiating.
At a news conference on Monday afternoon, the Virginia senator said that he won’t support the legislation until there is “greater clarity” about the impact it will have on the country’s national debt and the economy, CNN reports.
During his remarks, Manchin slammed Democrats for using what he calls “gimmicks” to hide the true cost of the plan and said far more time is needed to evaluate its economic impact to guard against potential negative consequences.
“I’m open to supporting a final bill that helps move our country forward, but I am equally open to voting against a bill that hurts our country,” he said, according to CNN.
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Manchin’s harsh critique casts major doubt about whether President Biden can get his plan through Congress.
As noted by CNN, “Democrats plan to use a process known as budget reconciliation to approve the measure in the Senate without any GOP votes. But that means they would need all 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus to vote for it.”
But resistance from Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) is threatening to derail their plan.
Read the full report on CNN.
