Chuck Schumer Vows Build Back Better Vote to Put Joe Manchin’s Opposition on Record

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Monday promised a Senate vote on President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, placing Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) outspoken opposition to the legislation on record.

One day after Manchin announced he would not vote for Biden’s massive tax and spend agenda, Schumer wrote his Democrat colleagues, telling them he would hold a vote on the legislation to place Manchin on the record as a “no” vote in hopes the West Virginia senator would change his mind.

Excerpts from that letter:

[S]enators should be aware that the Senate will, in fact, consider the Build Back Better Act, very early in the new year so that every Member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television. We are going to vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act – and we will keep voting on it until we get something done.

…

Therefore, as with the BBB, Members will be given the chance to debate on the Senate floor and cast a vote so that their choice on this matter is clear and available for everyone to see.

Joe Biden lost West Virginia by nearly 40 points, placing Manchin in a secure position to oppose Biden’s radical legislation in spite of Schumer’s pressure.

Schumer said the Senate would consider legislation federalizing local elections, which would destroy election integrity. He also complained about the challenge of passing radical legislation:

The Senate will consider voting rights legislation, as early as the first week back. Previous attempts to simply debate such legislation have been obstructed by Republican filibusters, effectively defending the voter suppression and election nullification laws passed by so many Republican state legislatures on party lines with simple majorities.

“Members on both sides have spent years bemoaning Senate gridlock, yearning for the Senate to operate as it once did,” Schumer continued. “The American people also decry this deadlock.”

On Sunday, Manchin announced on Fox News he would oppose Biden’s reconciliation package, which elicited an angry response from Biden.

Biden’s statement suggested the senator was disloyal and betrayed good faith negotiations on the reconciliation package.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø