In speeches this summer, Biden highlighted the proposal as popular across the electorate. The prescription-drug pricing measure is also one of the biggest elements championed by the White House. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and supported by Biden, that would expand Medicare coverage to hearing, dental and vision. Axing it could imperil the health care reform components in the social spending plan, such as a proposal from Sen. Democrats are counting on them to raise as much as $700 billion over 10 years to pay for the party-line bill’s ambitious programs. The drug price negotiation changes that Sinema is coming out against are a major component of the bill’s envisioned financing. “I think the real question is how big, not whether.” “The last two miles of the marathon are always the toughest, but there remains strong conviction and unity to finish this thing and do something historic,” said John Podesta, former counselor to President Barack Obama and one of the most prominent advocates for aggressive climate action through the reconciliation bill. The reconciliation bill would boost child care, paid family leave and expand Medicare while spending potentially historic sums to combat climate change. Though both Manchin and Sinema have made clear, publicly and privately, that they are willing to negotiate on the party-line social spending proposal, their opposition to the current version has irritated fellow Democrats who see a unique opportunity to muscle through major domestic legislation. Sam Runyon, a spokesperson for Manchin said, “Senator Manchin does not disclose the details of his private meetings.”
Manchin didn’t offer that commitment, the two sources said, describing the back-and-forth as respectful but direct. Biden said it was a no-go, telling Manchin the infrastructure bill couldn’t advance further without some commitment from Manchin to move forward on reconciliation. Manchin also pressed Biden about moving the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill first as they figured out an agreement on the reconciliation package, according to the two sources. When discussing the size of the bill, Biden cited the need to win progressive votes as well, implying that any significant modifications could cost him support on the left. But the disagreements between the two went beyond that. The West Virginia Democrat said he couldn’t support a $3.5 trillion package, a detail first reported by Axios. Sinema’s concerns about the prescription drug component combined with Manchin’s more publicly stated opposition to the current reconciliation bill cast significant doubt on Biden’s ability to get the votes to pass his signature domestic initiative.īiden and Manchin left their Wednesday meeting in a stalemate, according to two sources briefed on the conversation.
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