Lauren Gambino in Washington
The New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has fired back at the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin for referring to her as “the young lady”, in the latest escalation in a bitter intra-party spat over the size and scale of Democrats’ social spending bill.
© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Related: Joe Manchin insists he ‘can’t vote for’ $3.5tn spending bill
Joe Biden’s economic agenda depends on Democrats’ ability to overcome such internal divisions and enact what would be the largest expansion of the social safety net in generations.
Manchin is among the chief obstacles to passing the mooted $3.5tn package. He has said he would not support legislation with such a high price tag.
His opposition has placed the bill in peril in the Senate, where it already faces an uphill battle in a chamber split 50-50, while drawing the ire of progressives, who see the $3.5tn plan as a compromise on their ambitions to reshape the US economy.
In a Sunday appearance on CNN, Manchin ripped progressives for threatening to sink a bipartisan infrastructure bill if he refuses to support the spending package. Singling out Ocasio-Cortez, Manchin responded to her claim that he meets weekly with oil lobbyists.
“I keep my door open for everybody,” he said. “It’s totally false. And those types of superlatives, it’s just awful. Continue to divide, divide, divide.
“I don’t know that young lady that well. I really don’t. She’s just speculating and saying things.”
On Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez suggested Manchin was attempting to dismiss a fellow member of Congress as a “young lady” because he was beginning to feel the pressure.
“In Washington, I usually know my questions of power are getting somewhere when the powerful stop referring to me as ‘Congresswoman’ and start referring to me as ‘young lady’ instead,” the 31-year-old wrote.
Related: Joe Manchin insists he ‘can’t vote for’ $3.5tn spending bill
Joe Biden’s economic agenda depends on Democrats’ ability to overcome such internal divisions and enact what would be the largest expansion of the social safety net in generations.
Manchin is among the chief obstacles to passing the mooted $3.5tn package. He has said he would not support legislation with such a high price tag.
His opposition has placed the bill in peril in the Senate, where it already faces an uphill battle in a chamber split 50-50, while drawing the ire of progressives, who see the $3.5tn plan as a compromise on their ambitions to reshape the US economy.
In a Sunday appearance on CNN, Manchin ripped progressives for threatening to sink a bipartisan infrastructure bill if he refuses to support the spending package. Singling out Ocasio-Cortez, Manchin responded to her claim that he meets weekly with oil lobbyists.
“I keep my door open for everybody,” he said. “It’s totally false. And those types of superlatives, it’s just awful. Continue to divide, divide, divide.
“I don’t know that young lady that well. I really don’t. She’s just speculating and saying things.”
On Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez suggested Manchin was attempting to dismiss a fellow member of Congress as a “young lady” because he was beginning to feel the pressure.
“In Washington, I usually know my questions of power are getting somewhere when the powerful stop referring to me as ‘Congresswoman’ and start referring to me as ‘young lady’ instead,” the 31-year-old wrote.
“Imagine if every time someone referred to someone as ‘young lady’ they were responded to by being addressed with their age and gender? They’d be pretty upset if one responded with ‘the old man’, right? Why this kind of weird, patronizing behavior is so accepted is beyond me!”
© Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Imagine if [they were'] addressed with their age and gender? They’d be pretty upset if one responded with “the old man”, right?’
The testy exchange underscores the challenge facing Democrats as they attempt to craft a bill that satisfies competing interests among their caucus on healthcare, climate change, education and immigration. How Democrats plan to pay for the package also remains contested and unclear.
Last week, Manchin called on Congress to “pause” a lightning-fast drafting process for the spending package. The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, rejected the call, insisting Democrats were moving “full speed ahead”, though he did not rule out shrinking the cost of the plan.
The bipartisan bill that passed the Senate in August includes funding for so-called “hard” infrastructure projects like roads and bridges, broadband and mass transit.
Progressives have threatened to derail passage of that $1.2tn plan if Senate Democrats fail to deliver a concurrent spending package that delivers on liberal priorities, including combating climate change, expanding healthcare and medical leave, subsidizing childcare and reforming the immigration system.
The House, where Democrats hold a narrow majority, is expected to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill by 27 September. Key committees are racing to finish writing the reconciliation package. Senate Democrats would need support from all 50 members of their caucus to approve it via budget reconciliation, with Vice-President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.
The testy exchange underscores the challenge facing Democrats as they attempt to craft a bill that satisfies competing interests among their caucus on healthcare, climate change, education and immigration. How Democrats plan to pay for the package also remains contested and unclear.
Last week, Manchin called on Congress to “pause” a lightning-fast drafting process for the spending package. The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, rejected the call, insisting Democrats were moving “full speed ahead”, though he did not rule out shrinking the cost of the plan.
The bipartisan bill that passed the Senate in August includes funding for so-called “hard” infrastructure projects like roads and bridges, broadband and mass transit.
Progressives have threatened to derail passage of that $1.2tn plan if Senate Democrats fail to deliver a concurrent spending package that delivers on liberal priorities, including combating climate change, expanding healthcare and medical leave, subsidizing childcare and reforming the immigration system.
The House, where Democrats hold a narrow majority, is expected to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill by 27 September. Key committees are racing to finish writing the reconciliation package. Senate Democrats would need support from all 50 members of their caucus to approve it via budget reconciliation, with Vice-President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.
CNN'S Dana Bash asked Joe Manchin 7 times how much the budget bill should cost. He never answered.
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large 4 hrs ago
Here's what Joe Manchin knows: There's no way, no how, that he is voting for the proposed $3.5 trillion spending bill being pushed by Senate Democrats
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 05: Sen. John Cornyn (R) (R-TX) talks with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) while walking to the U.S. Senate chamber for a vote March 05, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Senate continues to debate the latest COVID-19 relief bill.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Here's what Joe Manchin appears to have no clue about: What size spending bill he would vote for.
This exchange, which is long but worth it, between CNN's Dana Bash and the West Virginia Democratic Senator on Sunday is illustrative of both of those points:
Bash: Do you have a specific number in mind?
Manchin: Here's a number you should be getting to. First of all, I have agreed to get onto the reconciliation, because that's the time for us to make financial adjustments and changes. I thought the 2017 tax code and tax law, the way it was changed, was barely -- very, very unfair. And it was weighted to the heavy -- to the wealthy.
Bash: So what's the number?
Manchin: And bottom line is, what's -- the number would be what's going to be competitive in our tax code.
I believe the corporate rate should be at 25, not 21.
Bash: But what's the overall number for the budget bill?
Manchin: You know, I think that you're going to have to look at it and find out what you're able to do through a reasonable, responsible way.
Bash: So, then how do you know that it's not 3.5?
Manchin: And if that's going to be at 1.5, if it's going to be 1, 1.5 -- we don't know where it's going to be.
Bash: So, you think, ballpark, 1, 1.5?
Manchin: It's not going to be at 3.5, I can assure you.
But, with that, whatever it is, once you have a competitive tax code that you can compete globally, and then you should look at what the need is. What's the urgency and the need that we have?
Bash: And I'm -- again, I want to get to that, but just because this is -- this is the thing that people consume. Do you have a ceiling?
Manchin: I -- my ceiling is this, the need of the American people, and for us to basically take in consideration inflation. No one's concerning about the debt. Our debt as of Friday was 28.7 trillion? And we're not even talking about that. No one is talking about that.
Bash: So, 1 -- you just said 1.5. It sounds like $1.5 trillion is your number?
Manchin: I'm just saying that, basically -- well, I have looked at numbers. If we have a competitive tax code from a noncompetitive, doesn't help the working person that was done in 2017, that's in the 1, 1.5 range, OK? If that's where it is, shouldn't you be looking at, what does it take now to meet the urgent needs that we have that we haven't already met?
Soooo......
If you weren't counting, Dana asked Manchin SEVEN times what the number would be that he could vote for. And seven times Manchin hedged. Even when she pushed on a number he had thrown out -- $1.5 trillion -- he wouldn't commit to that!
Manchin's lack of clarity is no small matter. With Democrats holding only 50 Senate seats, they need every single member of their party -- plus the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris -- to pass this spending bill, which President Joe Biden had made clear is a major priority for his administration.
Without Manchin's vote -- and it's clear that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer doesn't have it right now -- there is no reconciliation package, no matter how big (or small). Manchin is the linchpin in all of this -- and he knows it.
What's difficult -- from Schumer's perspective -- is that Manchin seems to not know what he DOES want. What is the number -- or around the number -- that would turn Manchin's "no" vote into a "yes"? Is it $1.5 trillion? Less? More?
To best understand Manchin's current stance -- and why it is utterly maddening for Senate leaders as well as the more liberal House Democratic caucus -- take it out of the political context. Think about it like this: You and your significant other decide you want to go out to dinner. You suggest a few places and he or she says no to each. You name a few more, and he or she continues to reject them. Exasperated, you ask "Well, where do YOU want to eat?" and get this response: "I don't know."
Joe Manchin is the undecided diner in this scenario. Except we aren't talking about where to get dinner. We're talking about trillions in government spending that would fundamentally reshape the way government is involved in the lives of individuals for years to come.
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