Jonathan Chait: “The greatest danger posed by Manchin’s pause gambit is that it will wreck the carefully negotiated strategy Democratic leaders have crafted. Facing moderate and progressive factions that don’t trust each other, they set out to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill (favored by the center) and Biden’s human capital bill (favored by the left) in tandem. Manchin reportedly advised the moderate House Democrats who, months into the schedule, decided to wreck the strategy and insist on infrastructure first.”
“The compromise negotiated in the House requires an expedited schedule, with an infrastructure vote by the end of the month. The sequence is still workable, as long as both factions have an understanding of what they’ll include in the social spending bill. Without that understanding in place, progressives have every incentive to vote down the infrastructure bill, which will in turn contribute to the impression of dysfunction and chaos.”
