Sanders, Manchin escalate fight over $3.5T spending bill
By Jordain Carney - 10/15/21 08:04 PM EDT Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are ramping up their war of words as Democrats struggle to get past weeks of increasingly public infighting over their sweeping social spending plan.
Sanders, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, fired the latest salvo on Friday taking the fight over the plan to West Virginia. Sanders penned a Charleston Gazette-Mail op-ed, which will run in the newspaper Sunday, to tout the benefits that could be included under a $3.5 trillion bill, a top-line figure that Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) oppose.
"Poll after poll shows overwhelming support for this legislation. Yet, the political problem we face is that in a 50-50 Senate we need every Democratic senator to vote 'yes,' We now have only 48. Two Democratic senators remain in opposition, including Sen. Joe Manchin," Sanders wrote.
Sanders added that Congress was at a "pivotal moment" and had a "historic opportunity to support the working families of West Virginia, Vermont and the entire country and create policy which works for all, not just the few."
Manchin quickly fired back, accusing Sanders of trying to meddle in a state he isn't from.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/577027-sanders-manchin-escalate-fight-over-35t-spending-bill
