By Jarrett Renshaw

(Reuters] – Democratic Senator Joe Manchin leveraged the slim majority of his party in Congress to reshape President Joe Biden’s budget bill. This included slashing its original price tag ($3.5 trillion) and blocking policies on climate change.

If all Republicans in the Senate are against it, Democrats will not be able to pass it. Vice President Kamala Harris casts a tiebreaking vote.

The party must accept Manchin’s wishes if it wants the bill to become law. Manchin has made use of his power to defeat key components of the bill.

Manchin comes from West Virginia. It is an economically sparsely populated, Republican-leaning state producing natural gas and coal. West Virginia ranks near the bottom on U.S. rankings for infrastructure, education, and health.

Manchin, who is also the partial owner and founder of Enersystems a privately owned coal brokerage, has been slow to reduce fossil fuels. It complicates Democratic efforts against climate change.

He also opposes the expansion of many social programmes. Manchin is at the centre of political debate. He has shared his views this week with journalists, the Economic Club of Washington, and the halls of Congress.

This is a list listing the areas where Manchin has tried to stop Biden from pursuing his plans.

PAY FAMILY LEAVE & CHILDCARE

Biden wanted Americans to have 12 weeks of paid leave to new parents, caregivers for ill relatives, and people with severe medical conditions. This would compensate them for as much as $4,000 per month.

Manchin indicated that he opposed the measure. Democrats are forced to think about reducing it to just four weeks, or even scrapping it entirely. Biden would suffer a serious blow.

Manchin responded to a question Tuesday asking if he has concerns over the pay leave proposal.

He does support a push for universal pre-kindergarten education. “I’m for pre-K. Whatever it costs,” he said on Monday night. “We can do that.” He said he had pushed to ensure that faith-based groups can also provide childcare.

Manchin claimed that he said to Biden: “I believe government should not be your provider but your partner.”

MEDICARE EXPANSION

Democrats are seeking to increase Medicare’s coverage for senior citizens to pay their dental, hearing, and vision care. Additionally, they want to provide Medicare-style insurance benefits to people with lower incomes who live in states where Medicaid was not expanded under Obamacare.

Manchin says both are unacceptable, arguing that Medicare cannot be afforded to pay for additional benefits such dental treatment and Medicare is at risk of insolvency before 2026.

“You’ve got to stabilize that first before you look at basically expansion. So if we’re not being fiscally responsible, that’s a concern,” Manchin said.

CLEAN ELECTRICITY PERFORMANCE SYSTEM

Democrats wanted to encourage power utilities to invest in solar energy and penalize those who don’t. For Biden to reach his goal of reducing U.S. emissions 50% by 2030, it was essential.

Manchin has rescinded the plan, saying it would unfairly penalize utility companies who are making this transition. This would help West Virginia’s major industry, power plants, move away from coal.

“It makes no sense to me at all for us to take billions of dollars and pay utilities for what they’re going to do as the market transitions,” Manchin told CNN in September.

METHANE FEE

Manchin is also opposed to a tax on U.S. oil- and gas producers who emit methane above a threshold.

Methane, a greenhouse gas, is the second-leading cause of climate changes after carbon dioxide.

STEPED UP IRS ENFORCEMENT

Manchin criticised a proposal that banks must report more information about their accounts to the Internal Revenue Service. This would complicate Democratic efforts to increase tax enforcement for higher income earners to help raise hundreds of billions to fund social spending.

A Democratic proposal would mandate that banks report to IRS accounts with activity exceeding $10,000 per year.

Manchin indicated Tuesday that he does not believe the proposal will be approved. “Do you understand how messed up that is?” he said he told Biden. “This cannot happen. It’s screwed up.”

FUNDING ADDITIONAL FOR ELECTRIC-VEHICLE VEHICLES

Manchin supported an additional bipartisan infrastructure bill which would have provided $7.5 billion for the construction of a national charging network for electric cars.

However, he says now that it is sufficient and could endanger Democratic hopes to provide billions more funding.

“I said I’m having a hard time with that. I don’t remember the federal government building filling stations when Henry Ford invented the Model T,” Manchin said on Tuesday.