As President Joe Biden continues to push his economic agenda, some in the Democratic party are not so keen on spending as much money as the president hopes to. The rift within the party widened on Sunday as Sen. Joe Manchin threatened to vote against the bill, which some hope to be as large as $3.5 trillion.
Manchin requested that Democrats lower the amount they are looking to spend by more than half, cutting back on some of its programs. Those programs would look to battle child poverty and climate change, the Hill reported.
"I, for one, won't support a $3.5 trillion bill, or anywhere near that level of additional spending, without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs," Manchin wrote in an opinion piece last week.
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This proposal was met with dissent from other Democratic senators like Sen. Bernie Sanders, who called the smaller economic package "unacceptable."
Sanders told The New York Times that progress needs to continue on the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package.
"You can't slow it down," Sanders said.
Democrats have been crafting the package and are expected to check off several party-backed priorities, including funding for universal pre-K, tuition-free community college, and health care expansions.
The hope was to have the House vote on the spending plan by the end of September, but with Manchin and others saying they need more "clarity on the trajectory of the pandemic," before spending that kind of money, it's unknown if it will happen.
Sanders pleaded with Democrats, saying it's crucial to act quickly as the plan would likely be passed with an only Democratic vote.
"Within a little while, everything is going to become political. The only way you get things done historically in Congress is in the first year of a session, where you can escape a little bit from the partisan politics," he said.
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi shared that she disagrees with Manchin's call for Democrats to pause on the reconciliation bill.
"Everybody's working very hard. The committees are doing their work. We're on a good timetable, and I feel very exhilarated," she said.
For the bill to pass, Democrats will need 50 votes, and as some Sen. speak out against the price tag on the bill, the party must come together quickly to get the package to the House.
