Manchin urges House to pass infrastructure bill but does not endorse $1.75tn framework – live | US news

House speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated that Democrats remain committed to soon passing both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package, despite Joe Manchin’s latest statement on the negotiations.

“The House, Senate and White House continue to move forward with the Build Back Better Act – which will be one of the most historic, consequential legislative victories For The People in a century,” Pelosi said in a new statement.

“Build Back Better will grow the economy without increasing inflation, because it is fully paid for,” she added.

Although Pelosi’s statement does not explicitly mention Manchin’s name, that comment seems to be a response to his concerns about whether the legislation may negatively contribute to the federal deficit.

“Democrats look forward to passing the Build Back Better Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework For The People,” Pelosi concluded.

Mondaire Jones echoed Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal, saying the House should pass both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package this week.

So it seems like House progressives are mostly brushing aside Joe Manchin’s latest statement on the reconciliation package, in which he refused to explicitly endorse Joe Biden’s framework for the bill.

Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal downplayed the significance of Joe Manchin’s latest statement on the reconciliation package.

The Washington congresswoman said the House still intends to pass both the reconciliation package and the bipartisan infrastructure bill in the next few days.

Jayapal reiterated that Joe Biden reassured House Democrats about his framework for the $1.75tn reconciliation package ultimately gaining the support of all 50 Democratic senators, and she said she would let the president handle any necessary conversations with Manchin.

Jayapal urged congressional Democrats to “keep tempers down” as they navigate what they hope will be the final stage of the negotiations over the two bills.

The White House has released a statement insisting Joe Manchin will ultimately support the $1.75tn reconciliation package, even though the Democratic senator has not committed to doing so.

“Senator Manchin says he is prepared to support a Build Back Better plan that combats inflation, is fiscally responsible, and will create jobs,” press secretary Jen Psaki said in a new statement.

“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.”

During his meeting with House Democrats last week, Joe Biden also said that he believed his framework for the reconciliation package would win the support of all 50 Democratic senators.

But in his statement to the press moments ago, Manchin emphasized he had not yet decided whether he would support the final version of the package.

“I’m open to supporting a final bill that helps move our country forward, but I am equally open to voting against a bill that hurts our country,” Manchin said.

Joe Manchin would not explicitly endorse Joe Biden’s framework for the $1.75tn reconciliation package, and the West Virginia senator would not commit to supporting the final version of the legislation.

“I’m open to supporting a final bill that helps move our country forward, but I am equally open to voting against a bill that hurts our country,” Manchin said.

That will not likely be reassuring for the House progressives who want guarantees about the future of the reconciliation package before supporting the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

House Democratic leaders had originally hoped to hold votes on both bills later this week, but it’s unclear how Manchin’s latest statement may affect that timing.

Joe Manchin fiercely criticized House progressives for refusing to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill until the reconciliation package moves forward.

“The political games have to stop,” the Democratic senator said. “Holding this bill hostage is not going to work in getting my support for the reconciliation bill.”

Of course, Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the other key Democratic holdout in the Senate, have used their two votes to demand drastic cuts to the reconciliation package and are now refusing to endorse Joe Biden’s framework for the smaller bill.

So one could make the argument that the “political games” are not restricted to the progressive wing of the Democratic party.

Joe Manchin held a press conference this afternoon to offer some clarity on his opinion of Joe Biden’s framework for the $1.75tn reconciliation package.

However, the West Virginia senator instead just reiterated his demand that the House pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill without explicitly endorsing the framework.

“I’ve worked in good faith for three months,” Manchin said. “And I will continue to do so. For the sake of the country, I urge the House to vote and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill.”

House progressives have said they will not support the infrastructure bill until the reconciliation package moves forward as well.

But Manchin said he would not endorse Biden’s framework for the reconciliation package until he has more information about the legislation’s cost.

“To be clear, I will not support the reconciliation legislation without knowing how the bill would impact our debt and our economy in our country. And we won’t know that until we work through the text,” Manchin said.

The Democratic senator left the press conference without taking questions.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• House Democrats are still hoping to hold votes on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package this week. House leaders had initially planned to hold votes tomorrow, but that timeline has been altered as Democrats race to craft a drug pricing provision for the reconciliation package.
• Joe Biden addressed the Cop26 climate change conference, underscoring the urgent need to curb carbon emissions. “We meet with the eyes of history upon us and with profound questions before us,” Biden said in Glasgow. “It’s simple. Will we act? Will we do what is necessary? Will we seize the enormous opportunity before us, or will we condemn future generations to suffer? This is the decade that will determine the answer.”
• The supreme court heard oral arguments in the case over Texas’ six-week abortion ban. Five of the court’s conservative justices allowed the ban to go into effect in September, but at least two of those justices — Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — sounded skeptical today when hearing Texas attorneys’ justifications for the law.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, said all Americans will likely soon be eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine booster.

“It will be very likely that everyone will be able to get a booster within a reasonable period of time,” Fauci said during the White House pandemic response team’s press briefing today.

Fauci emphasized that those who are fully vaccinated but have not yet received a booster are still “really quite protected against severe disease and hospitalization”.

Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, added that the “overwhelming” number of infections in the US continue to occur among unvaccinated individuals.