United States Representative Pramila Jayapal, a leading liberal House Democrat, urged U.S. President Joe Biden to continue his fight for the Build Back Better Act and use executive action despite opposition from fellow Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin and his public rejection of the plan.
On Sunday, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) wrote in an opinion piece that the CPC will soon release a plan that will propose lower costs, protection of families' health, and tackle climate change. Jayapal said that the caucus will continue to support the Build Back Better and keep it as close to the agreed-upon framework.
Build Back Better
In a recent public address, West Virginia Senator Manchin declared his opposition to Biden's Build Back Better legislation. The Democrat's announcement caused investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N) to lower its forecasts for U.S. economic growth. It also threatened to scuttle hundreds of billions of dollars worth of funding aimed at fighting climate change and meeting the federal government's climate goals, Reuters reported.
The situation comes as Sen. Ben Cardin said on Sunday that he was not entirely convinced that Biden's Build Back Better legislation was dead despite Manchin's rejection. During an interview, he stated that there was unanimity in his caucus to get the bill to the president and were working on the contents of the bill. Cardin added that President Biden was directly involved in the negotiations regarding the bill.
The official said that he had hope that the Build Back Better bill would be resurrected in 2022 despite Manchin's vote being in line with all 50 Senate Republicans. Despite the expected turnout of the bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent out a letter last week, announcing that they would still be holding a vote for the legislation.
"We are prepared to move; we just need to make sure we have unanimity in our caucus and that's what we are working on and we will start on that next week when we return," said Cardin, Politico reported.
Joe Manchin's Opposition
Manchin's statement opposing Biden's Build Back Better legislation did not come as a surprise to members of "the Squad," a group of staunch progressives in the House. They had long warned that the West Virginia senator could derail the massive social spending plan.
The Democrat had previously been vocal about his concerns of Biden's Build Back Better bill, repeatedly demanding lawmakers to trim it down. Progressive lobbied Democratic leaders in an attempt to pressure the moderate senator to support the legislation. They worked on keeping the bill linked to a vote on a massive infrastructure package known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, which is one of Manchin's priorities.
For weeks, lawmakers coupled the bill but eventually separated them due to pressure from House moderates and Biden's assurance that he would get Manchin to vote yes to his Build Back Better legislation. While the majority of House progressives voted in favor of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, the six House members belonging to "the Squad" were the only ones in the CPC to vote against it, Vox reported.
Related Article: Joe Biden's Net Worth: Facts You Need To Know About the 46th US President's Wealth
