The White House has, seemingly, been forced to cancel their plans for the Build Back Better bill after failing to get Joe Manchin on board.
This week, it was also reported that Manchin's proposed $1.8 trillion social spending offer is also off the table. After all, the senator confirmed to reporters that there hadn't been any negotiations since last month's shock announcement.
When asked about the social spending bill offer he put on the table last year, Manchin said he didn't want to talk about it.
"I'm really not going to talk about Build Back Better because I think I've been very clear on that. There is no negotiation going on at this time," he said via Business Insider.
Joe Manchin not interested to discuss BBB, social spending offer
According to Deadline, Manchin's $1.8 trillion social spending offer was supposed to include funding for universal pre-K and an additional tax of the rich. However, the senator didn't have any plans to include an expanded child tax credit as part of the bill.
Just before Christmas Day, Manchin announced that he could not support Biden's Build Back Better bill. He told reporters his decision just 30 minutes after informing the White House.
Reports revealed that Joe Biden's administration tried to contact Manchin hours earlier to continue negotiating with him, but he didn't respond to their call.
Despite his decision not to support the Build Back Better bill, White House press secretary Jen Psaki released a statement saying that they will continue to press him to see if Manchin will reverse his position yet again.
In November, Manchin also said that he would vote "no" on Biden's Build Back Better Act because he can't explain it to the people that voted for him in West Virginia then he can't support it.
Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says a vote on BBB will be made
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer revealed that he spoke briefly about the Build Back Better bill while the Senate was on holiday break. He said that there was still a possibility for Biden and Manchin to talk about the latter's participation and cooperation with the bill, according to CNBC.
Schumer also said that there would continue to talk about the Senate Democrats even though they won't take place on the House floor. The Senate minority leader also confirmed his intentions to hold a vote in the Senate on the bill, so they will do so until it gets passed.
Senate Democrats slam Joe Manchin
Other Senate Democrats have also been expressing their frustrations toward Manchin in the past. Sen. Bernie Sanders previously said that negotiations regarding the Build Back Better bill have been dragging too long because of him.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal previously accused Manchin of betraying Biden. She also said that Manchin could no longer say that he's a man of his word because he has been changing his position on the Build Back Better bill for months, according to NY Mag.
Despite all the criticisms, Manchin opposes the Build Back Better bill by saying that he couldn't get to where the other Senate Democrats are.
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