- Manchin said he cut a last-minute deal on Biden's agenda since Dems might lose control of Congress in November.
- "We don't know what the future will bring," he told Politico.
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia opened up about his reasons for cutting a deal now to revive the Democratic agenda. The party might lose one or both chambers of Congress in the November midterms, which would deal a fatal blow to their domestic ambitions for the final two years of President Joe Biden's term.
"In any other environment [than] what we have right now, this would be a bipartisan bill. I really believe that. This is the only vehicle I have to work with right now," Manchin told Politico on Wednesday. "We don't know what the future will bring. But all indications, might be a little bit of a shake-up. And that changes the dynamics of getting something done."
The conservative Democrat on Thursday claimed ownership of the $740 billion spending deal that was revealed in a stunning announcement a day earlier. Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer struck an agreement on a broad healthcare, climate, and tax package that was bigger than many Democrats thought possible only two weeks ago when prior negotiations apparently collapsed.
The pair agreed to extend financial assistance for Americans to purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act for three years. It also included $370 billion for climate programs and set aside $300 billion to reduce the federal deficit.
"This is not a Democrat bill. It's not a Republican bill. This is an American bill," he told reporters in a press call on Thursday. He argued the package would make significant headway on denting inflation amid heightening fears of an economic slowdown.
Democrats hope to pass the bill in the 50-50 Senate next week, though a spate of COVID infections is threatening to upend that timeline. They're using budget reconciliation to approve it with a simple majority in the upper chamber, using a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris to skirt GOP resistance.
Most Democrats quickly threw their support behind the agreement, but there was one notable holdout: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Her spokesperson said in a statement that Sinema needed more time to review the legislation and wanted a top Senate official to ensure the bill complies with the strict rules of reconciliation.
Democrats are now racing to send the bill to Biden's desk within the next two weeks.
Referring to the deal's healthcare and climate initiatives, Schumer told Democratic senators, "we now have the opportunity to get those two hugely important priorities passed before the August recess," in a private caucus meeting on Thursday morning, per a Democrat in the room. "We will need to be disciplined in our messaging and focus. It will be hard. But I believe we can get this done."