Schumer Explains His Dealings with Joe Manchin

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke to CNN about the secret, handwritten note he and Sen. Joe Manchin signed last summer ahead of Build Back Better negotiations, in which Manchin committed to a top line of $1.5 trillion.

Schumer insisted the document wasn’t an “agreement” but “part of his strategic way of listening to keep the process moving.”

Playbook: “Schumer also downplayed news that Pelosi didn’t know about the paper. It turns out, the White House wasn’t told either, according to the report. But Schumer said he had ‘no regrets’ about the way he handled it and argued that both the administration and the speaker knew Manchin’s parameters.”