White House offers no reaction to Manchin blow

The White House offered no reaction Friday to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) rejecting the climate spending and tax hikes on the wealthy in the budget reconciliation package, which struck a blow to President Biden’s agenda.

“As you’ve heard us say many times before, we’re just not going to negotiate in public as it comes to climate change and the president’s climate change plan and how he’s going to get there,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters when asked for a reaction to Manchin’s latest move.

“The president has always been very clear that he’s going to use every tool in his toolbox, every authorities that he has to make sure that we deal with the climate crisis that we are currently in, but as far as the negotiations, I’m just not going to say much more about that in public,” she added.

Reporters aboard Air Force One, where Jean-Pierre was briefing on a historic flight from Israel to Saudi Arabia, pushed back, asking her if the president was disappointed or if he got a heads-up from Manchin.

“We’re still part of these negotiations, I’m not going to say much more about it. I’m just not going to do this in public,” she said. “I’m just not going to share much more about this.”

Manchin told Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) Thursday that he will only support a narrow budget reconciliation package before Labor Day if it does not include new spending to fight climate change or taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations.

The latest blow comes as the White House has pushed lawmakers to move quickly on legislation to boost domestic production of semiconductors and compete with China. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has threatened to block the bill if Democrats pursue the reconciliation package.

“We think it’s a false choice to have to pick one or the other,” Jean-Pierre said when asked if the White House would sacrifice the China competition bill to pass reconciliation.

When a reporter pointed out that the White House could end up with no bill, Jean Pierre responded, “You’re so dark … jeez. We’ve got to keep pushing.”

Manchin told Schumer that if Democrats move the reconciliation bill in August, he will only support a provision to lower prescription drug prices and a two-year extension of expiring health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

Schumer is pushing to move the reconciliation package to the floor before September, to align with when states plan to announce premium increases under the Affordable Care Act next month.