After just putting up his scaled-back top-line ideas of the president's plan on Wednesday, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin told President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and his fellow Democrat senators to "get [their] financial house in order."

Despite showing his willingness to do it only days ago, Joe Manchin said on Sunday that passing a modified version of President Joe Biden's failed Build Back Better proposal is low on his priority list. Manchin has joined Republicans in asking for the United States to enhance its energy production as a result of Russia's invasion, which has caused gas prices to spike for ordinary Americans. Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer and the leading crude exporter.

Manchin Remains Worrysome About The Spending Bill

Even while the White House claims it would lessen the impact of rising prices, the senator has long raised fears that the Democrats' spending measure will drive historic inflation. Democrats hoped to pass Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better measure through reconciliation, a Senate budget process that would allow it to pass with just a simple majority vote and no Republican support.

However, after months of discussions, Joe Manchin unexpectedly revealed in December that he would not support the package, as per Daily Mail. The senator proposes that his colleagues focus on one 10-year program and give the remaining half of the cash produced from tax reform and prescription drug reform to deficit reduction and inflation combat.

He advocates limiting further spending to climate initiatives rather than a plethora of social spending projects that, he argues, will be baked into the federal budget foundation for years to come. Joe Manchin believes the country needs to "get its fiscal house in order" before starting on new huge spending initiatives, but his colleagues aren't ready to abandon big, ambitious measures that have been discussed for more than a year, such as direct government financing for increased child care availability.

He claims that the country cannot continue to add to the deficit while inflation is at a 40-year high. However, this approach has sparked a backlash from top Democratic progressives and liberal advocacy groups. Senate Health Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who is leading the drive to secure financing for greater access to child care and universal pre-school, said that her goals "are all part of dealing with inflation." She added, "We all understand that and we're all fighting for it."

But Joe Manchin has questioned whether spending hundreds of billions of dollars on new social programs can help to combat inflation by cutting expenses. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) stated on Thursday that she will try to persuade Manchin that financing for expanded child care, pre-kindergarten, and a national paid family leave program should not be cut from any budget reconciliation deal Democrats put together later this year, according to The Hill.

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Manchin Urges No-Fly Zone in the US

Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Manchin stated on Sunday that the idea of creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine should not be ruled out despite repeated requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy due to the risk of escalating confrontation with Russia. After eight missiles shelled the city of Vinnystia in west-central Ukraine, distant from the frontline, Zelenskyy called for a no-fly zone once more on Sunday.

Although gas prices have already surpassed $4 due to inflation, Manchin, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said he would support a ban on Russian oil and gas. Despite bipartisan calls for a comprehensive embargo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the US is considering a restriction on Russian oil imports "in collaboration" with European and NATO partners.

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