Report: Sen. Joe Manchin Could Delay Biden’s Build Back Better Bill Until Next Year

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) may decide to delay President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better agenda until next year, according to a report by Axios released on Wednesday.

The increasing rate of inflation likely contributes to Manchin’s reported desire to push the massive spending bill onto 2022’s legislative calendar.

According to Axios, “Red-hot inflation data validates the instinct of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to punt President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda until next year — potentially killing a quick deal on the $1.75 trillion package, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported prices increased 0.9 percent in October, which brought the annual inflation rate to 6.2 percent.

“By all accounts, the threat posed by record inflation to the American people is not “transitory” and is instead getting worse,” Manchin said Wednesday. “From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.

Manchin has consistently expressed hesitancy surrounding the president’s social spending package because of its potential impact on the economy and our national debt.

The Build Back Better Act was recently cut in size from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, in part due to Manchin’s refusal to support the initial amount.

Progressive Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez worried that severing the social spending bill from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed Congress last week would give away leverage on dictating the social agenda to centrists like Manchin.

Manchin sits on the Senate Committee on Appropriations and is vice-chair of the Senate Democrats’ Policy and Communications Committee.