Democrats Put Build Back Better in Joe Manchin's Court [View all]

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WASHINGTON—Democrats are increasingly willing to accept whatever child-care, healthcare and climate package that Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) would support as they return to Washington this week, hoping to salvage elements of the party’s economic agenda after months of failed negotiations. Party lawmakers have started to change their attitude toward the package as they grapple with the possibility of failing to convert their narrow control of Congress into progress on major party goals. Some have moved away from insisting that the package include particular priorities, instead advocating for the party to notch a result with Mr. Manchin ahead of the midterm elections. Many Democrats are eager to start piecing together legislation after Mr. Manchin’s rejection of the House-passed Build Back Better bill put talks on ice for weeks. In a West Virginia broadcast interview, Mr. Manchin said talks had restarted on the bill, adding that he was primarily focused on a separate effort on bipartisan elections legislation.

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Some Democrats expect it could be weeks or possibly months before he would agree to a package, and lawmakers are meanwhile turning to bills to fund the government after Feb. 18 and boost U.S. technology competitiveness. The party will also soon tackle the confirmation process for Mr. Biden’s eventual pick for the Supreme Court. The White House is also expected to soon unveil a list of emergency-spending items, such as new money for the coronavirus pandemic. That spending could cover money for testing as well as next-generation vaccines.

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Lawmakers and aides have started to identify their priorities for a package that funds a smaller number of programs for the long term—a key demand of Mr. Manchin’s. Many Democrats see roughly $550 billion of incentives for reducing carbon emissions, which Mr. Manchin has indicated he supports, as core to the package, along with programs to lower prescription drug prices and subsidize health-insurance coverage. They also hope to include funding for universal pre-K and child-care subsidies, along with a series of tax increases on corporations and very-high-income Americans. Absent from such a package could be provisions like funding for housing, Medicare coverage for hearing and an expansion of the child tax credit, which many Democrats have embraced as a central party goal. During negotiations with the White House in December, Mr. Manchin proposed a package that included climate provisions, healthcare subsidies and universal prekindergarten, according to people familiar with it.

“It looks like we will probably never pass Build Back Better, but we might be able to pass those things in Build Back Better,” said Rep. Jim Clyburn (D., S.C.), the No. 3 House Democrat. He added that his priorities were restoring the enhanced child tax credit and including provisions to make housing more affordable. Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said many Democrats would likely accept whatever agreement they can reach with Mr. Manchin, even if they are disappointed. “What are you going to do, you put a bill on the floor that the president supports and the speaker supports and takes historic steps on climate and gives free pre-K to every three- and four-year-old in America and a progressive is going to say ‘No I’m going to vote against it?’” he said. “How am I going to explain that?”

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-put-build-back-better-in-joe-manchins-court-11643554801 (subscription)