“Reconciliation is inevitable because, basically, Republicans I understand on the tax, they don’t want to undo anything on the 2017 [tax reform bill]. For those who didn’t vote for 2017, there should be some adjustments. I’m open to that,” Manchin told reporters.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said the GOP would not compromise on undoing the 2017 Tax bill, saying it was “our one red line.”
The reconciliation process would allow the Senate to pass Biden’s broad definition of an infrastructure package, which includes changing the 2017 tax bill, with only 50 votes, meaning Manchin would need to vote along with the rest of the Democrats.
Meanwhile, other Democrat leaders including the president have said they will not let Republicans stand in the way of their legislation.
“I’m not just signing the bipartisan bill and forgetting about the rest that I proposed,” Biden said on Thursday, adding that the Democrat package that seeks to expand the nation’s social safety net is equally important to the bipartisan bill that deals with what is traditionally defined as infrastructure.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he supports Pelosi’s plan, calling it “a good way to ensure that both ends go forward.”
Manchin told reporters he not sure of what the finished reconciliation bill would look like, but he was certain Democrats were going to do all they can to pass Biden’s economic agenda.
“There’s going to be a reconciliation bill. We just don’t know what size it’s going to be,” he added.
“I understand bipartisanship seems outdated to many pundits. But the difficult work of collaboration is what we expect in Arizona. And I still believe it is the best way to identify realistic solutions—instead of escalating all-or-nothing political battles that result in no action, or in whipsawing federal policy reversals,” she wrote, noting that Democrats used the filibuster throughout the Trump administration.
The budget reconciliation that Democrats want to push through Congress involves what Biden proposed in his American Families Plan, which includes spending on home health care and child care, education, and other areas. The measure has been labelled by Democrats “human infrastructure,” as opposed to the bipartisan bill that offers “physical infrastructure.”