Joe Manchin demands that only parents working and making less than $200,000 get the full child tax c

Source: Business Insider

Joe Manchin demands that only parents working and making less than $200,000 get the full child tax credit — otherwise he'll tank it

The child tax credit will have to look dramatically different for Sen. Joe Manchin to support an extension.

The West Virginia senator drove a stake through Democrats' spending hopes on Sunday, announcing on Fox News he won't vote for the Build Back Better plan as it currently stands. Part of the proposal included an extension of the child tax credit, which has doled out monthly payments as large as $300 to roughly 36 million households since it began in July.

The last checks for the program went out on December 15, and it was up for renewal in President Biden's BBB plan. Manchin publicly criticized BBB's price tag for months, arguing it posed too great a risk with inflation already running at historic highs. Yet a Monday interview with West Virginia's MetroNews revealed more reasons for Manchin's opposition and, specifically, why he wouldn't back a re-up of the child tax credit.

The centrist senator began by repeating his call for a work requirement, arguing such a test is necessary for the payments to be "accountable." Other Senate Democrats had rebuked the work requirement in recent months, with many arguing that raising a child is work in itself. The Monday interview signals that, unless such a stipulation is added, Manchin will allow the credit to expire in late December.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-manchin-child-tax-credit-bbb-work-requirements-salary-limits-2021-12