Manchin says he's on board with Democratic-only infrastructure bill
By Jordain Carney - 06/29/21 10:01 AM EDT
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Tuesday that he's supportive of going forward with a larger, Democratic-only infrastructure bill but that it shouldn't be linked to a separate bipartisan framework.
Manchin, during an interview with MSNBC, said that he had been assuming since "day one" that Democrats would have to use reconciliation, a budget process that allows them to bypass a 60-vote legislative filibuster, to pass a larger infrastructure bill because Republicans don't want to make changes to the 2017 tax bill.
“We're going to have to work it through reconciliation, which I’ve agreed that that can be done. I just haven’t agreed on the amount, because I haven’t seen everything that everyone is wanting to put in the bill," Manchin said on MSNBC.
Manchin added that the Senate can "go through the process" on putting together a larger package that includes so-called human infrastructure knowing that Democrats will "probably have to go to reconciliation and then do what we can afford to do."
Manchin's comments come after he told reporters late last week that he viewed a Democratic-only reconciliation bill as "inevitable," handing a significant boost to Democrats' strategy.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/560686-manchin-says-hes-on-board-with-democratic-only-infrastructure-bill
