In blow to Biden, Joe Manchin will not commit to backing $1.75 trillion spending bill

[Celerity]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-congress-november-agenda-not-faint-heart-2021-11-01/

November 1, 2021
8:32 PM CET

WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's domestic agenda suffered a significant setback on Monday when moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced he would not yet support a $1.75 trillion framework unveiled late last week.

"While I’ve worked hard to find a path to compromise, it’s obvious: compromise is not good enough for a lot of my colleagues in Congress. It’s all or nothing, and their position doesn’t seem to change unless we agree to everything," Manchin told a news conference.

"Enough is enough. It’s time our elected leaders in Washington, all of us, stopped playing games with the needs of the American people in holding a critical infrastructure bill hostage.”

He portrayed the bill as being filled with "shell games" and "budget gimmicks" that would end up costing far more than its $1.75 trillion price tag.

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