Manchin explained his opposition to the bill, writing: “some in Congress have a strange belief there is an infinite supply of money to deal with any current or future crisis, and that spending trillions upon trillions will have no negative consequence for the future. I disagree.”
He criticized the reckless spending of his colleagues, saying that it was creating a new “inflation tax” on all Americans. He continued: “Now Democratic congressional leaders propose to pass the largest single spending bill in history with no regard to rising inflation, crippling debt or the inevitability of future crises. Ignoring the fiscal consequences of our policy choices will create a disastrous future for the next generation of Americans.”
He also expressed serious concerns about the national debt, which has ballooned to well over $28 trillion. Manchin says that now is not the right time for the resolution after the government has already “spent more than $5 trillion responding to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Manchin said that one “reason to pause” is to “allow for a complete reporting and analysis of the implications a multitrillion-dollar bill will have for this generation and the next.” He said that congressional committees should take time to work out “what we should fund, and what we simply cannot afford.”
In light of these concerns, writes Manchin, “I, for one, won’t support a $3.5 trillion bill, or anywhere near that level of additional spending, without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs.”
On Wednesday morning, Schumer indicated that he was little concerned by the moderate senators’ opposition, saying that Democrats “are moving full speed ahead.” He continued: “We want to keep going forward. We think getting this done is so important for the American people.”
“We’re going to all come together to get something big done,” Schumer said. “It’s our intention to have every part of the Biden plan in a big and robust way.”
Pelosi said she was “exhilarated” by the bill’s progress. “What you have to realize,” Pelosi explained, “is that this is ‘build back better with women.’” Pelosi said that the women in her caucus were especially “energized” by the legislation, which she called “transformative for women in the workplace.”
A concern for both Sinema and Manchin has been the price tag of the bill rather than the contents of the bill itself. This has led to speculation that the only way to advance the legislation is to negotiate spending cuts with the moderate holdouts.
When asked how high the spending in the bill could go, Pelosi was noncommittal. She said that $3.5 trillion was the cap on how much would be spent, but did not indicate that she would negotiate a lower figure.
“You'll have to go below $3.5 trillion, won’t you?” a reporter asked. Pelosi responded curtly “Why?” When the concerns of Manchin and Sinema were brought up, Pelosi told the reporter that he “would have to go talk to the Senate about that.”
At a press conference the next day, Pelosi was asked a similar question and was again hesitant to commit to lowering spending in the bill. “What would you cut?” She asked rhetorically. The bill’s programs like government-funded childcare, paid family leave, and in-home healthcare, are “so important,” she said and recoiled at the thought of cutting any of them.
On Wednesday, Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.), who wrote the original resolution, expressed the same. Originally, Sanders’ resolution called for $6 trillion in spending, and Sanders indicated that he was not willing to go any lower. He said, “That $3.5 trillion is already the result of a major, major compromise.”
