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WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks to reporters before a caucus meeting with fellow Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill January 18, 2022 in Washington, DC. On Tuesday, the Senate will begin debate on voting rights legislation. The measures are expected to fail due to Republican opposition and not enough Democratic support for filibuster reform.
Joe Manchin recently revealed that no one has approached to discuss possible amendments to the Build Back Better Act that he refused to support last year.
According to reports, Democrats are determined to get Manchin on board so that they can get the ball rolling on Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation.
Since the West Virginia senator said there are some aspects to the bill that he couldn't support, like child tax credit payments, Democrats agreed they would need to pass those that Manchin already approved of.
The other Build Back Better act components that he has yet to support will be discussed and tweaked later.
"There are ongoing discussions. I don't know where all the details lie right now. It is a priority of mine to extend the child tax credit, and we're going to look for every way to do it," Sen. Chris Van Hollen told the Huffington Post.
Joe Biden confident Joe Manchin will get on board
Biden also confidently said that there's still hope for the Build Back Better Act to be passed ahead of the midterm elections but only in big chunks and not as a whole.
For instance, the POTUS already has enough support to pass the $500 billion budget for climate and energy proposals. Manchin also supports early childhood education.
"It's clear to me we're going to have to break it up. I think we can break the package up, get as much as we can now, and get back and fight for the rest later," Biden said via The Hill.
On the other hand, proposals for free community college and the expanded child tax credit might have to be tweaked so that Manchin would get on board.
Manchin and Sen. Krysten Sinema also refused to support the voting rights bills, so Democrats will most likely focus their energy on their unfinished economic policy business after this week.
Joe Manchin says he won't support Build Back Better legislation
Last month, Manchin announced that he wouldn't support Biden's Build Back Better legislation because he thinks that families that will receive financial support won't use the money on their children and household.
Instead, the senator is convinced that some recipients of the child tax credit will use the money on drugs and other vices. Manchin doesn't also think that it's right for parents earning six-figure incomes to receive financial aid.
After making his official announcement, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki expressed her disappointment with Manchin.
Psaki said that Manchin previously said that he would support the Build Back Better legislation, so his announcement came as a surprise to them. She also said that they will do everything they can to see if Manchin will change his mind yet again, according to USA Today.
Manchin has also been telling his fellow Democrats that there's a need to focus on COVID-19 and the skyrocketing inflation rates because these are of utmost importance right now compared to the Build Back Better legislation.
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