Biden Says He’s Still Going to ‘Get Something Done’ With Manchin

President Biden on Tuesday held out hope that Democrats could still pass his Build Back Better plan of social spending and climate programs even after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a key centrist vote in the Senate, announced Sunday he is a “no” on the legislation.

Asked whether Manchin went back on his word and how he can rebuild trust among the divided members of his own party, Biden told reporters he doesn’t hold a grudge.

“I want to get things done. I still think there’s a possibility of getting build Back Better done,” Biden said in remarks from the White House after announcing steps to address the latest surge of Covid-19 cases, fueled by the rapid spread of the omicron variant. “Senator Manchin and I are going to get something done,” he said.

Biden went on the defend his bill against charges that it would increase inflation and hurt the economy, citing the Goldman Sachs analysis we mentioned yesterday that said GDP growth would be lower next year without the legislation. That same analysis projected that inflation will remain high well into next year, making passage of the Democratic plan more difficult.

While Biden signaled an openness to working with Manchin, other Democrats, still irate over the West Virginia senator’s torpedoing their agenda, reportedly are looking to ramp up the pressure on him. “Senate Democrats are signaling they plan to take more of a hardball approach,” The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports. “Democrats are threatening to drive a wedge between Manchin and his many lower-income constituents who stand to reap billions of dollars in federal benefits if Build Back Better passes, including an enhanced child tax credit, lower Medicare-negotiated prescription drug prices and subsidies to cover the cost of child care.”

Manchin has bristled against such pressure tactics, and Democrats have been wary of squeezing Manchin, fearing that it could backfire.

A progressive proposal for Manchin: As the White House tries to find a path forward, it must also contend with progressives still fuming over what they see as a betrayal by Manchin and in no mood to try to further appease him. “It is abundantly clear that we cannot trust what Sen. Manchin says,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus told reporters Monday. "No one should think that we are going to be satisfied with an even smaller package that leaves people behind or refuses to tackle critical issues like climate change.”

That could complicate Biden’s path to “getting something done,” as he put it. “Whether liberals’ public pronouncements that they are done scaling back their priorities is just pique talking or a firm decision will be just as key to what the party can accomplish as whether Manchin comes back to the negotiating table,” writes The Washington Post’s Marianna Sotomayor.

Jayapal on Monday suggested that Biden enact some of his agenda via executive actions — a path many Democrats reportedly doubt could be effective. On Tuesday, though, Jayapal floated another suggestion, one aimed at pinning down just what Manchin can and can’t support.

Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent says Jayapal told him she reached out to Manchin Tuesday morning and asked him to go back to the Build Back Better framework released by the White House three months ago. That plan called for a one-year extension of the expanded child tax credit, boosting Obamacare subsidies for four years, funding universal pre-K for six years and other measures.

“Jayapal told me she asked Manchin to take that framework and line it up next to the BBB that passed the House (which Manchin has rejected),” Sargent writes. “She asked him to say what, specifically, in the House bill doesn’t match up with what Manchin did commit to in the framework (in his discussions with Biden), and to say what specifically in the framework he did not commit to and does not support.”

In other words, Jayapal seems open to at least discussing ways in which the House-passed plan might be reconfigured — and intent on trying to decipher just what Manchin wants. “Another possibility, Jayapal suggested, might be for Senate Democrats to hold votes on each item, to get Manchin to commit one way or the other,” Sargent adds. “That could lead to an endgame in which a stripped down BBB is negotiated.”

Jayapal said she’s “not quite there yet” on the idea of a bill that only includes a few programs and funds them fully for 10 years, an approach that would inevitably lead to some progressive priorities being excluded. But she acknowledged that Democrats will still need to win over Manchin: “We all understand that we need 50 votes, and he’s our 50th vote.”

The bottom line: Senate Democrats are set to hold a virtual caucus meeting tonight to discuss their path forward on both this bill and a voting rights measure. As of Tuesday morning, it wasn’t clear whether Manchin would participate. What is clear: Biden’s goal of reviving some version of Build Back Better won’t be easy.