Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said there’s little chance that Congress can complete work on President Joe Biden’s economic agenda by the end of the month deadline set by his party’s leaders.
“There is an awful lot to go, I don’t know how that would happen,” Manchin, whose vote is pivotal in the 50-50 Senate, told reporters Monday at the Capitol. “Once you come to a meeting of the minds, you might be able to work something out.”
The conservative West Virginia Democrat has been at the center of negotiations. Biden talked with him by phone Monday, and he met with Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Pramila Jayapal, two progressives who have been increasingly critical of Manchin over his opposition to their top priorities.
With the clock ticking, Biden is attempting to push the party’s two competing factions toward an agreement. He plans separate meetings on Tuesday with representatives of progressives and moderates.
House Democratic leaders have said they are intending to vote on the two main pieces of Biden’s domestic plan -- a bill with $550 billion in new funding for infrastructure and a multi-trillion-dollar tax and spending package -- by Oct. 31.
That’s when a temporary extension of highway maintenance funding runs out again, forcing some kind of congressional action, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on Democrats to resolve their differences on the second bill by then. Progressives have blocked the House from acting on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill which includes highway funding until a deal on the separate spending and tax legislation is reached.
Manchin’s vote will be needed to pass Biden’s plan, which includes provisions to fund child care, programs for the elderly and climate measures mostly funded by higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
Oct. 31 also is the date that a United Nation’s climate conference opens in Glasgow, which Biden is scheduled to attend. But Manchin also said he opposes a clean power plan that has been a major priority for the White House and Biden’s goal of de-carbonizing the nation’s electric grid by 2035. The Clean Electricity Payment Program would pay utilities for using clean energy and penalize those that don’t. But the lack of Manchin’s support has the administration seeking alternatives.
A few Democrats have said they won’t support legislation without substantial provisions to deal with climate change.
“It’s important that we get as much in on climate as we can,” Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said. “That’s what our folks expect of us.”