The Sausage Making: Biden Says He And Manchin ‘Are Going To Get Something Done’

 <p><em>Your intermittent briefing on negotiations over the reconciliation bill.</em></p>    <p>President Joe Biden told reporters Tuesday that he still thinks “there’s a possibility of getting Build Back Better done.”</p>    <p>When asked if Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) had broken his word, Biden opted for diplomacy.&nbsp;</p>    <p>“Senator Manchin and I are going to get something done,” he said.&nbsp;</p>    <div class="wp-block-tpm-separator undefined TpmSeparator"></div>    <h2><strong>No Bridges Burnt?</strong></h2>    <ul><li>Biden isn’t the only one keeping lines of communication open with Manchin (“Some people think maybe I’m not Irish because I don’t hold a grudge,” Biden quipped.)&nbsp;</li><li>Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) reached out to Manchin Tuesday morning and asked him to agree to the framework Biden said Manchin had committed to back in the fall: A one-year child tax credit extension, Affordable Care Act subsidies, universal pre-K, money for climate change mitigation, etc. Jayapal essentially asked Manchin to take the House reconciliation bill and cross off what he wouldn’t support, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/21/pramila-jayapal-joe-manchin-talk-build-back-better/">according to the Washington Post</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>The conversation comes on the heels of Jayapal’s fairly brutal <a href="https://twitter.com/Kate_Riga24/status/1473006783119732743?s=20">takedown</a> of Manchin Monday, where she said that he’s shown a “lack of integrity” and that his word can’t be trusted going forward in negotiations.&nbsp;</li><li>Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), characterizing the reconciliation bill as dead, is <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorRomney/status/1473039581654274059?s=20">pushing</a> for his version of the child tax credit. While Democrats would surely hate that it’s paid for by cutting other programs designed to fight poverty, the <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/02/mitt-romney-child-allowance-covid-stimulus.html">surprisingly generous</a> proposal may get more juice if Democrats can’t pass any version of the reconciliation bill — or if they can only find the votes for one that omits the CTC. Like everything in the filibuster-controlled Senate, though, it’d be an uphill battle to pass through regular order. No other Republican senators have yet come out for Romney’s proposal.</li></ul>    <h2><strong>Coal for Christmas&nbsp;</strong></h2>    <ul><li>The United States’ biggest coal mining union <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-coal-miners-union-asks-manchin-revisit-opposition-spending-bill-2021-12-20/">asked</a> Manchin to reconsider his stance on the reconciliation bill.&nbsp;</li><li>“We’re likely to lose coal jobs whether or not this bill passes,” the union’s chief lobbyist <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/21/joe-manchin-climate-bbb-coal-industry/">told the Post</a>. “If that’s the case, let’s figure out a way to provide as many jobs as possible for those who are going to lose.” The tax incentives in the reconciliation bill, he argued, is the way to do that.</li></ul> 

Talking Points Memo