‘THERE’S NO WAY’

Joe Manchin: I Will Not Support $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill

Manchin said Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “will not have my vote on $3.5 [trillion].” Bernie Sanders said Manchin’s opposition to the bill is “not acceptable.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) revealed on Sunday that he will not support President Joe Biden’s ambitious $3.5 trillion spending plan, adding that “there’s no way” that Congress will meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s deadline to pass it by the end of the month. “[Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer] will not have my vote on $3.5 [trillion] and Chuck knows that and we've talked about this,” the conservative West Virginia Democrat said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Manchin, who earlier this month called for a “pause” on the massive budget resolution, further indicated on NBC’s Meet the Press that the cost of the bill was the prohibitive issue. “No, I could not support $3.5 trillion,” he said, once again suggesting Democrats “put a pause on” spending. Manchin also stated that he would likely only support a $1.5 trillion spending plan that included a “globally competitive” tax code.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), one of the key architects of the spending bill, told CNN in a later interview on Sunday that Manchin’s opposition to the bill is “not acceptable.” He also said that there is a “sense of urgency” in terms of passing the spending legislation. Progressives in Congress, meanwhile, have said they won’t vote for the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill already passed by the Senate unless the budget reconciliation passes alongside it.

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Justin BaragonaSenior Media Reporter

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