- Manchin has all but sunk the Democratic aim of approving Biden's economic agenda by year's end.
- He raised last-minute concerns about the 10-year cost of a program giving checks to families.
- A group of Democratic senators is drafting a short-term extension to the child tax credit.
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia all but sank the Democratic goal of approving the centerpiece of President Joe Biden's agenda by Christmas, pushing last-minute changes to the child tax credit and the structure of the cash benefit.
Manchin has been locked in negotiations with Biden on his $2 trillion social and climate spending bill. A key part of the legislation is a one-year extension of the child tax credit, which provides families with up to $300 per kid. It's scheduled to expire at the end of the year, and the IRS issued final payments to 35 million families on Wednesday.
CNN's Manu Raju reported that the West Virginia Democrat backed slashing the benefit from the legislation entirely. But Manchin later denounced the reports as "bullshit."
"Senator Manchin is not telling President Biden what to include or not include. He has always been supportive of the child tax credit," a person familiar with his thinking told Insider. "He has also made it clear the cost should not be greater than $1.75 trillion. Paying for [the credit] over 10 years is about $1.4 trillion."
All 50 Senate Democrats including Manchin must stay united to approve the bill in the evenly divided chamber. Without Manchin's vote, Senate Democrats can't move ahead and sidestep Republican opposition to approve the sprawling measure.
Some Democratic senators who had shepherded the provision said they felt blindsided by Manchin. "I'm very, very surprised because I thought that there was an agreement on this," Sen. Michael Bennet, an architect of the program, told Insider.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, later said he'd been contacted by several Democratic senators about drafting a last-minute extension to continue the program into next year.
Those lawmakers "have asked about the possibility of going forward with a separate fix," he told Insider. "Just on the child tax credit if Build Back Better is put off until the beginning of January."
That would require 10 Republicans in the Senate to lend their support, which appears unlikely.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.