Manchin Deals a Blow to Biden’s Agenda

U.S. Senator Manchin delivers remarks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington
JONATHAN ERNST
By Yuval Rosenberg

Manchin Deals a Blow to Biden’s Agenda

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on Monday slammed the brakes on House
Democrats’ effort to push through a $1.85 trillion social spending
package this week, demanding that lawmakers slow down and consider
the full fiscal and economic ramifications of their proposed
legislation.

Manchin’s comments came as an unpleasant surprise to those
Democrats who had been counting on the senator to endorse President
Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill, smoothing the path for rapid
approval. The senator made it clear that he has serious concerns
about the content of the legislation, as well as its potential
effects on the economy and the national debt.

"Throughout the last three months I have been straightforward
about my concerns that I will not support a reconciliation package
that expand social programs and irresponsibly adds to our $29
trillion in national debt that no one seems to really care about or
even talk about," Manchin said at an appearance at the Capitol.
"Nor will I support a package that risks hurting American families
suffering from historic inflation. Simply put, I will not support a
bill that is this consequential without thoroughly understanding
the impact that it will have on our national debt, our economy, and
most importantly all of our American people."

Manchin said he was concerned that lawmakers were ignoring other
serious fiscal problems as they pursued their spending plan. "[H]ow
can I in good conscience vote for a bill that proposes massive
expansion to social programs, when vital programs like Social
Security and Medicare face insolvency and benefits could start to
be reduced as soon as 2026 for Medicare and 2033 for Social
Security? How does this make sense? It doesn’t," he said.

Emphasizing the need for fiscal responsibility, Manchin also
accused his fellow Democrats of misrepresenting the cost of the
plan. "[A]s more of the real details outlined in the basic
framework are released, what I see are shell games and budget
gimmicks that make the real cost of this so-called ‘$1.75 trillion
dollar’ bill estimated to be twice as high if the programs are
extended or made permanent," he said. "That is recipe for economic
crisis. None of us should ever misrepresent to the American people
what the real cost of legislation is."

Taking aim at House strategy: Manchin, clearly bristling
at progressive efforts to pin him down, called on Democrats in the
House to pass the separate bipartisan infrastructure bill
immediately, striking a blow against progressives’ strategy of
linking the two bills to ensure that the larger and more
controversial social spending package makes it through
Congress.

"The political games have to stop," Manchin said, with anger in
his voice. "Holding this bill hostage is not going to work in
getting my support for the reconciliation bill."

He also warned: "I’m open to supporting a final bill that helps
move our country forward, but I’m equally open to voting against a
bill that hurts our country."

Progressives want to press ahead anyway: House Democrats
have now backed away from their demand that Manchin (along with his
fellow Democratic holdout, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona) express
their approval for their bill before proceeding to a vote.

Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said she
plans to move forward on a vote as soon as this week on the
bipartisan infrastructure deal, even without Manchin’s support,
while leaving the political arm-twisting to the White House. "We
are taking the President's word at the fact that he believes he can
get 50 votes in the Senate," Jayapal told MSNBC. "We've been able
to do what we said from the beginning, which is pass both bills at
the same time, get the entirety of the President's agenda to his
desk for signature and ultimately deliver transformative change for
people across this country."

Jayapal said the reconciliation bill could be ready in a matter
of days. "We are ready pending some final negotiations on things we
care very much about – immigration and prescription drug pricing,"
Jayapal said on CNN. "We know senators are still negotiating that,
some details on child care. But those are the last pieces and once
we have those we will be happy to vote both those bills."

The White House responds: Soon after Manchin spoke,
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki released a
statement saying that Manchin’s concerns have already been
addressed for the most part.

"Senator Manchin says he is prepared to support a Build Back
Better plan that combats inflation, is fiscally responsible, and
will create jobs," Psaki said. "The plan the House is finalizing
meets those tests—it is fully paid for, will reduce the deficit,
and brings down costs for health care, child care, elder care, and
housing. Experts agree: Seventeen Nobel Prize-winning economists
have said it will reduce inflation. As a result, we remain
confident that the plan will gain Senator Manchin’s support."

The bottom line: Manchin told
CNN Monday morning that he thought there needed to be
"clarity on where everybody stands." He may have clarified his
position at his afternoon press conference, but his comments — and
tone —only served to sow more confusion about the ultimate fate of
Biden’s Build Back Better bill. Democrats are still hopeful that
the senator from West Virginia can be convinced to support the
plan. At the same time, Manchin’s angry declaration of independence
from the Democratic timeline raises the possibility that it could
take longer than expected to reach a final agreement, while serving
as a reminder that a deal that can pass the Senate is by no means
guaranteed.

Democrats Scramble for a Deal on Prescription Drug Pricing
Reform

As they work to finalize the details of their Build Back Better
plan, Democrats reportedly say they are close to a compromise deal
that would restore to the package measures to lower prescription
drug prices.

The latest plan would allow the government to negotiate prices
on a reduced number of drugs.

"The proposal has coalesced around allowing Medicare, with
nearly 50 million participants in its drug program, to negotiate
the price of some drugs no longer covered by exclusivity periods
granted by the Food and Drug Administration, which protect drug
makers from generic competition," The Washington Post
reports. "Medicare would be able to negotiate with
drugmakers five years after regulators approve certain
small-molecule drugs — which account for most drugs sold in the
United States — and 12 years for the more complicated medications
known as biologics, which target conditions like cancer, said four
people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail the
current talks."

The tentative deal comes after the White House sparked criticism
from progressives and patient advocates by excluding drug pricing
provisions from the Build Back Better framework it released last
week. "The moment is now," a group of 15 vulnerable House Democrats
led by Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) wrote in a Sunday letter to Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
"We must deliver on our promise to lower the amount of money our
constituents pay for prescription drugs. We must demonstrate that
we work for the American people and not the pharmaceutical
industry."

Administration officials said that decision to leave out drug
pricing reforms from the framework was necessary because the
proposals under discussion did not have the votes needed to pass.
But Pelosi and numerous other Democrats in both the House and
Senate
continued to press for the issue to be addressed
in the final package and negotiators worked in recent days to
finalize narrower reforms and convince lawmakers who had objected
to earlier proposals, including Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), to back
those scaled back plans.

What’s next: Democrats hope that a compromise on drug
pricing reforms can still be included in the package before the
House votes on it, potentially this week. (Congress is scheduled to
be on recess next week.) But Sinema and other holdouts, including
Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), reportedly have yet to commit to
supporting the latest plan, and key details remain subject to
negotiation.

The bottom line: This may be Democrats’ best chance to
finally enact some version of a long-sought policy goal — and an
opportunity for Democrats to generate some additional revenue that
could help pay for the rest of their economic agenda. But the final
version is likely to fall far short of the sweeping reforms passed
by House Democrats (and ignored in the Senate) in 2019. "Though the
drug industry's goal is preventing any government price negotiation
whatsoever, limiting the bargaining to a narrow subset of drugs and
leaning more heavily on measures like out-of-pocket caps that don’t
impact the companies’ bottom line would be a victory in itself,"
the Post notes.

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