Manchin says he is OPEN to $2.2T in Biden's spending package - but will Sinema join him? Glimmer of hope for Biden's reconciliation bill while Dems continue fighting over what's in and out
- Senator Joe Manchin signaled he is open to supporting President Joe Biden's budget package in the range of $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion
- That is above his previous limit of $1.5 trillion
- 'I'm not ruling anything out, but the bottom line is I want to make sure that we're strategic and we do the right job,' he said
- Biden trying to negotiate a compromise between moderates and liberals
- He responded positively to Manchin's comments
- 'It sure seems like he’s moving. I hope that’s the case,' he said
Senator Joe Manchin on Tuesday signaled he is open to supporting President Joe Biden's budget package in the range of $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion, going above his previous limit of $1.5 trillion.
'I'm not ruling anything out, but the bottom line is I want to make sure that we're strategic and we do the right job and we don't basically add more to the concerns we have right now,' Manchin told reporters in the Capitol.
Biden responded positively to Manchin's comments amid signs the two warring wings of the Democratic Party - moderates and liberals - are moving closer together on a deal that would fund expanded education, health and environmental programs.
'It sure seems like he’s moving. I hope that’s the case,' the president said during a stop in Michigan, where he was promoting his economic agenda.
Senator Joe Manchin signaled he is open to supporting President Joe Biden's budget package in the range of $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion
Talks are continuing with Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, seen arriving at the Capitol on Tuesday
Biden has proposed a $3.5 trillion package of social programs that Manchin and fellow moderate Senator Kyrsten Sinema said is too expensive for them to support.
Sinema has not publicly named her top line although she has said she's given the figure to Biden and Democratic leaders.
Some liberals, however, want the full $3.5 trillion and are threatening to hold up Biden's infrastructure deal in the House until they get it. Democrats hold a scant margin of four seats in that chamber and can only afford to lose three votes.
The president is trying to negotiate a path between the two factions of his party and has conceded the overall price tag will have to come down.
He spent the past two days in virtual calls with various members of the House - speaking to liberals on Monday and moderates on Tuesday as he tries to get those two groups on the same page as Manchin and Sinema so he can pass his agenda.
But even if he gets the House on board he could run into an additional roadblock in the Senate: Progressive Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren expressed skepticism about supporting a lower price tag.
Sanders pointed out the $3.5 trillion was already a compromise - liberals originally wanted $6 trillion - while Warren noteed the Senate already agreed to the $3.5 trillion budget blueprint in August.
'Right now I'm still operating on the assumption that what we voted on, $3.5 trillion, is what we should be negotiating for,' she said.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with White House officials on Monday night. Their goal is to wrap up both the budget package and the infrastructure bill by the end of October.
President Biden traveled to Michigan on Tuesday to promote his economic agenda
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Talks are continuing even as Biden won't show his hand.
He conceded on Monday that the $3.5 trillion figure is a no go and the legislation will pass at a lower price point, which he wouldn't name.
'Well I laid out what I thought it should be. It's not going to be that. It's going to be less,' he said.
On the call with House progressives, Biden suggested a range of $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion, The Washington Post reported.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, pushed back, however, suggesting a topline number of $2.5 trillion.
Jayapal also suggested keeping all the major elements of the plan but letting some expire sooner, which would cut the overall price tag of the legislation.
Some Democrats think if programs like free community college or universal prekindergarten care prove popular, it will be easy to vote to extend them once their are close to expiring.
President Biden has hit the road to try and rally support for his infrastructure bill and his budget package.
'These bills are not about left versus right or moderate versus progressive or anything that pits Americans against one another,' he said during his Michigan trip.
'To oppose these investments is to be complicit in America's decline,' he noted.
