Manchin on $4-6 Trillion Price Tag for Infrastructure Bill: ‘That Seems to Me Just Totally Out of the Ballpark’

Thursday on FNC’s “Special Report,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) spoke against a proposed infrastructure bill with an estimated $4-6 trillion cost.

The West Virginia lawmaker was outright dismissive of the prospects of gaining support.

“I don’t think I could ever get there to that. I don’t think that we — I don’t — not unless we just throw caution to the wind on the tax code and could care less, are we competing in a global market, and are we being fair, that you can just throw that out the window,” Manchin said. “That seems to me just totally out of the ballpark.”

Manchin also reiterated his support of the 60-vote threshold in the U.S. Senate under the current filibuster rule, despite what some Democrats say.

“Bret, I haven’t changed at all on that,” he said. “I have been at 60 votes. I think basically what we need to do is change the attitudes of people, and we should be working together. They’re — if the Democrats are in minority, and the Republicans are the majority, we should be able to find 10, at least 10 reasonable, if it’s a 50/50. And if they had 54 or 55, then you only need five to get to 60. So, the bottom line is, is the filibuster is there, so the minority has input. I have been in the minority, and I have been in the majority. And I can tell you when you’re in the minority. You would like to have input.”

“If it was going to be a 51-vote threshold, basically just a simple majority, then I would have ran for the House,” Manchin continued. “I wouldn’t have run for the Senate. The Senate is different. We have a different role to play. And, basically, we’re called the most deliberative body for a reason. We do deliberate. We don’t expect anything to come from the House that’s going to be in a bipartisan manner, Bret. We know it’s going to be hot as a firecracker. We have got to cool that thing off. Well, if we’re no different the House, it’ll come hot — come in hot, and it’ll go out hot. That’s not what America needs.”

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