Manchin Holds Back Support for Spending Bill

“Sen. Joe Manchin declined to commit to voting for Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion social-policy and climate package, citing concerns about inflation and the length of programs, weeks before the Christmas deadline party leaders are racing to meet,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Manchin: “The unknown we’re facing today is much greater than the need that people believe in this aspirational bill that we’re looking at. We’ve gotta make sure we get this right. We just can’t continue to flood the market, as we’ve done.”

He added: “We’ve done so many good things in the last 10 months, and no one is taking a breath.”