WASHINGTON – Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday demanded more time to evaluate the projected impact of President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion social spending bill, refusing to endorse the framework that Biden had told House Democrats was a done deal in the Senate late last week.

Manchin spoke to reporters at the Capitol and accused House progressives playing political games by refusing the Senate to approve an infrastructure bill. This was despite the fact that every Democrat in Senate had endorsed its companion social spending bill.

Hold this [infrastructure] bill hostage is not going to work in getting my support for the reconciliation bill,” said Manchin, who represents West Virginia.

Manchin along with Sen. Kyrsten Synema, D. Arizona, are already able to negotiate significant concessions over Biden’s social safety net plan and climate change strategy. Originally estimated at $3.5 trillion the measure would fund universal preschool for children aged 3 and 4 years old, increase Medicaid and Medicare and allocate $550 billion for clean energy programs and climate change.

To pass the bill, all 50 Democrats must vote in the Senate. A tiebreaker can be used by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Manchin indicated that before Manchin would support the spending bill, he wanted to have a thorough analysis of its economic effects.

He said, “I will not vote for a bill with this consequence without understanding how it will impact our national debt, economy and American citizens.” This is why it’s important to allow for full transparency and analysis of the effects of tax and energy policy changes on our economy and taxes.

Manchin made the remarks while Biden was attending the COPP26 international conference on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland. President Obama had hoped for a settlement between the Senate and House before departing to Europe.

However, progressives did not like the thought of passing an infrastructure bill. Biden only promised that Democratic-held senators would vote for their priority in the social spending bill.

Manchin was skeptical about Democrats using the same tactic to lower the cost of their original $3.5 trillion plan. He also stated that it would be less expensive to have the $2 trillion figure. That was another of his demands. Democrats have reduced the life expectancy of many their most generous social programs to simplify the calculations.

This implies that the government expects that, once individuals have grown used to getting assistance from the federal governments, like with child care expenses, they will resist the removal of this assistance. Congress may be required to continue the program for an indefinite amount.

“As many details as possible of the fundamental framework [for the reconciliation bill] are released, what I see are shell games — budget gimmicks that make the real cost of the so-called $1.75 trillion bill estimated to be almost twice that amount … if you extended it permanently,” said Manchin.

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