A livid White House attacked Sen. Joe Manchin for breaking his “commitments” to support President Joe Biden’s massive social spending and climate legislation.
Manchin, D-W.Va., told “Fox News Sunday” that he cannot back Biden’s signature legislation, the $2 trillion Build Back Better package.
“My Democratic colleagues in Washington are determined to dramatically reshape our society in a way that leaves our country even more vulnerable to the threats we face,” Manchin said in a statement later Sunday.
“I cannot take that risk with a staggering debt of more than $29 trillion and inflation taxes that are real and harmful to every hard-working American at the gasoline pumps, grocery stores, and utility bills with no end in sight.”
Biden’s White House then went on the attack against the fellow Democrat.
“Weeks ago, Sen. Manchin committed to the president, at his home in Wilmington, [Delaware] to support the Build Back Better framework that the president then subsequently announced. Sen. Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework ‘in good faith,'” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday.
“If his comments on Fox and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the president and the senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.”
Psaki blasted Manchin for citing inflation and the deficit as reasons not to support the monstrous bill. She added the administration had not given up its fight to pass the plan.
“Just as Sen. Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word,” she said.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Sunday night that she remained hopeful Biden’s legislation eventually will be approved by Congress, Axios reported. She did not mention Manchin by name.
“Our work For The People demands that we stay at the table to pass the Build Back Better Act,” Pelosi said in a letter to Democrat colleagues. “While it is disappointing that we may not have a law by the end of the year, we are hopeful that we will soon reach agreement so that this vital legislation can pass as soon as possible next year.”
