Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is emerging as the chief obstacle to quick passage of President Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure package that Democrats want to move through Congress sooner rather than later.
Manchin is ramping up discussions with Republicans about what a scaled-down infrastructure package should look like, and some GOP senators are even optimistic that the moderate Democrat can be persuaded to block efforts to raise the corporate tax rate.
That means Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will likely have to wait for the negotiations to reach some kind of conclusion before moving ahead with the budget reconciliation process, as Manchin is expected to be the critical 50th Democratic vote needed to avoid a GOP filibuster.
Senate Republicans proposed a $568 billion infrastructure counteroffer last week. Now, bipartisan talks on a compromise proposal between $600 billion and $1 trillion are just getting started.
Manchin wants time for the talks to build momentum.
“For the sake of our country, we have to show we can work in a bipartisan way,” he said Monday evening. “I don’t know what the rush is.”
“Stay here a little bit, work a little bit,” he advised colleagues.
But Democrats are getting nervous about an extended timeline and worry that splitting Biden’s infrastructure agenda into two or three pieces of legislation might mean that a substantial part of it gets left behind.
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Manchin pumps brakes on Biden infrastructure plans https://t.co/Z2Vv9dUhFl pic.twitter.com/spcmys5WLk
— The Hill (@thehill) April 27, 2021
GOP Gov. Larry Hogan: "We're all in agreement that a bill needs to be bipartisan. It has to have the support of Republicans and Democrats, and it should focus on real infrastructure." pic.twitter.com/8sVyqZkmOr
— The Hill (@thehill) April 27, 2021
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