Manchin Throws a Wrench in Dems’ Hopes of Passing $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) says he will not vote for Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending bill or legislation that has “anywhere near that level” of spending.

In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Manchin said, “The nation faces an unprecedented array of challenges and will inevitably encounter additional crises in the future. Yet some in 🏛️Congress have a strange belief there is an infinite supply of money to deal with any current or future crisis, and that spending trillions upon trillions will have no negative consequence for the future. I disagree.”

He went on to say that an “overheating economy has imposed a costly ‘inflation tax’ on every middle- and working-class American.”

Manchin also noted that the nation’s debt is over $28 trillion after the lawmakers passed several coronavirus spending bills worth $5 trillion.

“Now Democratic congressional leaders propose to pass the largest single spending bill in history with no regard to rising inflation, crippling debt or the inevitability of future crises. Ignoring the fiscal consequences of our policy choices will create a disastrous future for the next generation of Americans,” Manchin said.

He also argued that those who believe such concerns are “overstated” should ponder how the U.S. could respond to a terrorist attack, financial crisis, or a “major international crisis” if the country “needlessly spend trillions of dollars today.”

“Instead of rushing to spend trillions on new government programs and additional stimulus funding, Congress