- AOC swung again at Manchin after he reiterated his opposition to Build Back Better.
- Should struggling public housing residents be directed to "Manchin's yacht," she asked on Twitter.
- She stepped up her row with the Democratic holdout for tanking the party's economic agenda.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday took a swing at Sen. Joe Manchin after the West Virginia lawmaker doubled down on his opposition to the Build Back Better agenda.
President Joe Biden's nearly $2 trillion proposed healthcare, climate, and social spending plan has been floundering for over a month since Manchin came out against the bill in late December. That left the party with little to show after six months of negotiations with the conservative Democratic holdout.
"Seniors, kids, & people with disabilities in my community have been sleeping with bubble jackets on in 18 degree nights, despite paying rent, bc the NYCHA funding to fix their heating and capital needs is in BBB," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "Where should I direct them to wait out the cold? Manchin's yacht?"
Ocasio-Cortez was referring to Manchin's Washington, DC-based houseboat, "Almost Heaven," on which the West Virginia Democrat lives. Several boat builders and maritime industry professionals have previously argued that it's a stretch to call the 65-foot vessel a yacht.
The New York progressive Democrat is one of the most vocal advocates for an ambitious package that includes funding for affordable housing, expanded childcare, an extension of monthly cash payments for families, and more.
She stepped up her row with Manchin last week, telling MSNBC that he has "a different demand" for the bill from one day to the next.
Ocasio-Cortez has also spent much of the past week drawing attention to the freezing cold temperatures caused by a broken heating plant at the Woodside Houses public housing complex in her district. The plant, according to the Sunnyside Post, was damaged during Hurricane Ida and has not yet been fully repaired.
Manchin on Tuesday declared the House-approved Build Back Better bill "dead" to reporters.
"What Build Back Better bill?" Manchin told Insider when asked about a tax break being included in a skinnier version of the plan. "There is no Build Back Better bill, I don't know what y'all are talking about."
He later left the door cracked open to future negotiations on a separate plan. Manchin has spoken favorably about some chunks of the bill, including a program to establish universal pre-K and climate spending measures.
Manchin wields outsized influence over the Democratic Party's agenda since the Senate is split 50-50 between both parties. Senate Democrats can't pass the package without his support, leaving them with no option but to eventually tailor a separate bill that addresses his concerns about its possible impact on the national debt and inflation.
Manchin, meanwhile, appears to be focusing most of his time and energy leading a bipartisan group of senators working on election reform proposals including modernizing and updating the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
"We know this is something we need to do," Manchin told reporters on Monday. "I mean, this is as important as anything we've done."
