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- Joe Manchin came out in opposition to the price tag of the Democrats' spending plan and wants cuts.
- He also urged his party to "hit the pause button" on its passage.
- The West Virginia Senator may force Democrats to slow down on approving swaths of Biden's economic agenda.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Sen. Joe Manchin said Democrats should "hit the pause button" on their $3.5 trillion social welfare bill, possibly jeopardizing its quick passage in the 50-50 Senate.
"Let's sit back. Let's see what happens. We have so much on our plate. We really have an awful lot. I think that would be the prudent, wise thing to do," he said at an event for the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. Bloomberg first reported the remarks.
Then he came out in opposition to the package's price tag in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Thursday. "I have always said if I can't explain it, I can't vote for it, and I can't explain why my Democratic colleagues are rushing to spend $3.5 trillion."
The West Virginia Democrat's position may force Democrats to move slower on the party-line bill and raised the prospect of sizable cuts to the plan, given the leverage he has as a pivotal vote. Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are against the plan's hefty size. maximize the leverage he has as a pivotal vote.
Every Senate Democrat must back the plan's passage through a process known as reconciliation, which enables them to bypass Republicans and approve bills with only a simple majority.
Manchin told Insider in July he was alarmed about rising inflation. But some economists argue the party-line bill wouldn't cause a surge in the price of goods. "The reconciliation package is going to be mostly paid for and it's spread out over a decade," Jason Furman, a former top economist to Barack Obama, told Insider last month. "It adds to the productive capacity of the economy so I'm not worried about it adding to inflation."
Congress faces a collision of deadlines this month, including a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a new funding bill to keep the government's doors open along with a looming debt ceiling showdown with Republicans.
House Democrats advanced the budget blueprint last week, paving the way for committees to start assembling a package that will include tuition-free community college, universal Pre-K, Medicare expansion and an extension of Biden's child allowance among other initiatives. They're eyeing tax hikes on wealthy Americans and large businesses to cover the plan.
Democrats intend to move the nascent social welfare bill in tandem with a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that cleared the Senate in July and approve them simultaneously. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly insisted she wouldn't take up the infrastructure bill until the Senate clears a full party-line spending package.
But she faced a short-lived rebellion from ten moderate lawmakers who demanded the bipartisan bill's quick approval, threatening to derail swaths of President Joe Biden's economic agenda. To secure their votes, Pelosi struck a deal to put it up Sept. 27 vote regardless of whether the partisan spending plan had passed the Senate.
As Manchin is pushing for the bipartisan infrastructure bill to be passed before the reconciliation bill, many progressives have said the opposite to ensure needed climate and care-economy measures are not left behind.
House Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal said in a statement after the House passage of the reconciliation bill that her position "remains unchanged" on the order the bills should be passed.
"As our members have made clear for three months, the two are integrally tied together, and we will only vote for the infrastructure bill after passing the reconciliation bill," Jayapal said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also stressed the "horrendous" outcomes for the climate that would come with not quickly passing the reconciliation bill - a sentiment expressed since the bipartisan infrastructure plan was passed.
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