Why Did Biden Call Out Manchin and Sinema?

President Biden apparently called out Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) yesterday as key Democratic senators blocking passage of his agenda.

Playbook: “Both senators obviously relish their independence and would probably wear such a rebuke as a badge of honor if it were coming from anyone else. But Biden is the leader of the party, and he just flashed a bright green light to the rest of the Democratic establishment: If they want to go after either member, go for it. (Neither office wanted to weigh in on this when asked for comment.)”

“Republicans working on an infrastructure deal told us they were confused by the swipe.”

Said one top GOP aide: “What the president said today was not helpful. There is a genuine interest among Senate Republicans to get a bipartisan deal focused on core infrastructure. We know there are a handful of Senate Democrats also interested in that. To the extent that the president pushes those Dems away, that’s helpful to us. They already don’t want to vote for what Biden is offering.”

That GOP aide isn’t very clear about whether Biden’s comments were “helpful” or “not helpful.”