The president's Build Back Better legislation will likely be talked about next year, according to a report by Senators Joe Manchin, D-W. Va. and President Biden.
Manchin and Biden spoke on the phone Sunday night after a dramatic public breakdown in negotiations over a centerpiece of the president's agenda, Fox News confirmed. The conversation was cordial and ended with the understanding that the two sides would pick up negotiations in the new year, sources told Politico.
The White House warned Manchin on Thursday that officials were preparing a statement that included him out as the cause of the delay in passing the legislation, and the news came after talks broke down between the two sides last week. Manchin asked the White House to leave out his name, citing that his family had already been the target of abuse, but the White House named him anyway.
The statement spurred Manchin to snap at the White House and announce on Fox News that he was breaking off negotiations over the legislation permanently.
Manchin said on Sunday that when you have these things coming at you the way they are right now, you can't vote to continue with this piece of legislation.
The sudden announcement caught the White House off guard and prompted outrage in the White House, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki calling Manchin's comments an inexplicable reversal of his position. If his comments on Fox and his written statement indicate an end to the effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal of his position and a breach of his commitments to the president and senator s colleagues in the House and Senate, Psaki said on Sunday. Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see whether he will reverse his position again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word.