- Biden says he thinks he can strike a deal with the key holdout on his $2 trillion agenda.
- "Sen. Manchin and I are going to get something done," he told reporters.
- It comes days after a spectacular breakdown in negotiations between Manchin and the White House.
President Joe Biden is confident that his economic agenda isn't on the ropes after taking a near-fatal blow from a member of his own party.
During a White House press conference on Tuesday, Biden said he would eventually strike a deal with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the key holdout on his $2 trillion Build Back Better plan.
"Sen. Manchin and I are going to get something done," he told reporters.
"I want to get things done," Biden also said. "I still think we can get Build Back Better done."
It comes two days after a spectacular breakdown in negotiations between the White House and Manchin on the sprawling social and climate spending legislation. The conservative Democrat went on "Fox News Sunday" to express his opposition to the plan, even turning down a last-minute phone call from the White House to reconsider.
"I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there," he said on the program. "This is a no on this legislation."
Manchin's remarks threw the bill on life support, and triggered an uncharacteristically fierce response from the White House.
"If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in [Manchin's] position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator's colleagues in the House and Senate," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in the statement.
Without Manchin's vote, Democrats can't muscle the bill through the 50-50 Senate over united GOP opposition. But the pair reportedly began speaking again before the Tuesday press conference, in an attempt to forge a new path forward on the bill.
In the form that Manchin opposed, the legislation would have set up universal pre-K, renew monthly child tax credit payments to American families for another year, established federal subsidies for childcare, combated the climate emergency, and more. Democrats wanted to finance it with new taxes on rich Americans and large corporations currently paying little or no federal tax.
In recent days, Manchin has stepped up his criticism of the near-universal child benefit that issues up $300 checks per month, per child to families. He's taken aim at its structure, arguing only families with taxable incomes should qualify and privately raising concern to Democrats that the federal cash could be spent on drugs.
He also wants to disqualify some families making six figures from getting the monthly child tax credit.