Cardin on future of Biden spending bill: ‘A lot of us are gonna be disappointed’

Democratic Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin on Sunday said the Democrats are prepared to move forward on the Build Back Better bill, but conceded that “a lot of us are gonna be disappointed.”

“We are prepared to move. We just need to make sure we have unanimity in our caucus. And that’s what we’re working on and we will start on that next week when we return,” Cardin said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Fox News chief Washington correspondent and “Fox News Sunday” guest host Mike Emanuel asked Cardin if Democrats were open to scaling the trillion-dollar bill back even further or passing some measures in the bill as standalone. Cardin said that this strategy was being “negotiated,” but stressed that Democrats still needed to shore up the votes after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced his opposition to the measure.

Noting the challenge in appeasing both moderates and progressives in the party through what was included or left out of the bill, Cardin said he believed it was possible to craft the legislation in a way that satisfies both sides.

“I think we can reach that sweet spot. Look, a lot of us are gonna be disappointed, but we’re not gonna let perfection be the enemy of getting something done,” Cardin said. “I think we’ll be pragmatic about it, but we want to make sure it deals with the issues that we’re facing in our communities.”

Emanuel noted that some Republican senators have publicly called for Manchin to join the Republican Party after he effectively ended Build Back Better’s chances of being passed. Cardin was asked if there was still room in the Democratic Party for Manchin.

“Oh, absolutely. The Democratic Party is proud of having a broad tent as we say,” Cardin said. “There’s absolutely room in our party for Joe Manchin and Elizabeth Warren and everyone in between.”

“Joe Manchin is very much welcomed in the Democratic Party,” he added.

Updated 10:51 a.m.