Democrats eager to enact some form of their climate and safety net package before the November midterm elections are floating disparate strategies for resurrecting negotiations West Virginia centrist Sen. Joe Manchin III squashed last month.
Manchin suggests “starting from scratch,” but his Democratic colleagues don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Democrats have different views on how much of the House-passed $2.2 trillion package is salvageable and how long they should negotiate with Manchin after protracted talks last year led nowhere.
President Joe Biden said in a press conference last week he’s “confident” some pieces of the existing package will become law before the midterms, citing more than $500 billion in clean energy spending and tax incentives and funding for universal pre-kindergarten as examples of provisions that have broad support, including from Manchin.
