President Biden expressed confidence on Tuesday that Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, will ultimately sign off on a $1.75 trillion spending bill despite the centrist’s claim there’s no rush to get a deal done.
“He will vote for this if we have in this proposal what he has anticipated, and that is looking at the fine print and the detail of what comes out of the House in terms of the actual legislative initiatives. I believe Joe will be there,” Mr. Biden said at a press conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
Mr. Biden also dismissed concerns by Mr. Manchin and others that the bill would amount to a massive spending spree by the federal government, ultimately hurting the economy.
He noted that 17 Nobel laureates concluded that his spending bill would raise wages, lower inflation and create 2 million jobs a year. He said that should alleviate any concerns Mr. Manchin has about how the bill could affect the economy.
“I understand that Joe is looking for the precise detail to make sure nothing got slipped in, in terms of the way in which legislation got written, that is different from what he acknowledged he agreed to,” Mr. Biden said.
“I think we’ll get this done,” he said.
Mr. Manchin said Monday that he can’t yet support Mr. Biden’s economic agenda until he understands its potential effects on the deficit, inflation and the tax code. His comments signaled that Mr. Biden has a slow path to passing his spending bill, if he can get it through Congress at all.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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