Manchin Won't Support Budget

 Sen. Joe Manchin Writes He Won't Support Democrats' $3.5 Trillion Budget Bill - The Epoch Times

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday said Democrats need to take a “strategic pause” before considering a $3.5 trillion bill that is designed to further push President Joe Biden’s agenda.

“Instead of rushing to spend trillions on new government programs and additional stimulus funding, Congress should hit a strategic pause on the budget-reconciliation legislation,” Manchin, considered by many to be the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. “A pause is warranted because it will provide more clarity on the trajectory of the pandemic, and it will allow us to determine whether inflation is transitory or not.”

He added: “While some have suggested this reconciliation legislation must be passed now, I believe that making budgetary decisions under artificial political deadlines never leads to good policy or sound decisions. I have always said if I can’t explain it, I can’t vote for it, and I can’t explain why my Democratic colleagues are rushing to spend $3.5 trillion.” (Read more)