‘I cannot vote to continue’: Manchin dooms Biden’s Build Back Better plan during Fox interview

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced on Sunday that he would vote against President Joe Biden’s signature Build Back Better Act should it come to the Senate floor, likely guaranteeing that the legislation will never make it to the president’s desk. It also vindicates the views of progressive members of the House who were unwilling to vote “yes” on a smaller, bipartisan infrastructure package until the Build Back Better Act passed for fear that centrists would go back on their vow to continue negotiations, and a blow to those in the progressive caucus who took the White House’s word that President Biden could win over Mr Manchin, with whom he publicly touts a warm relationship. “The president says he can get 51 votes for the bill,” House Progressive Caucus chair Rep Pramila Jayapal said last month, adding: “We are going to trust him.” The Independent has reached out to Congresswoman Jayapal’s office for comment on the likely end of the fight to pass the Build Back Better Act. Representative Ilhan Omar, one of the six House Democrats who voted against the bipartisan infrastructure package as part of an effort to force the passage of the Build Back Better Act first, excoriated Mr Manchin for a “bulls***” excuse about his concerns regarding inflation and the size of the legislation.