Senator Joe Manchin, a key moderate Democrat, said Wednesday he was open to passing a major reconciliation bill on infrastructure without Republican support, a process the White House is considering should negotiations with Republicans fall apart.
Manchin is one of 21 senators working on an $1.2 trillion bipartisan plan to rebuild roads, bridges and other traditional infrastructure.
However, he suggested he was open to passing a bigger package without Republican support, a pronouncement that came ahead of Wednesday's negotiations between White House staff and the lawmakers.
President Joe Biden would need Manchin's vote if he wanted to pass his infrastructure proposals through a process known as reconciliation, which allows the Senate to bypass its usual 60-vote threshold to advance legislation. In the 50-50 Senate, Biden can't lose a single member of his party.
Manchin offered words of hope to the White House when he said he was open to passing Biden's 'human' infrastructure plan without Republican support.
And he suggested he supported reversing some of the tax cuts made under Donald Trump, an option Biden wants to use to pay for his American Families Plan, which includes those 'human' infrastructure items: free community college, universal preschool and a comprehensive, nationwide paid leave program.
'I've come to the knowledge, basically, that budget reconciliation is for reconciling budgets. So it's money matters,' Manchin told NBC News, calling for bolstering 'human infrastructure.'
He also said some of Trump's 2017 tax cuts should be reversed.
'Republicans have drawn a line in the sand on not changing anything, and I thought the 2017 tax bill was a very unfair bill, and weighted to a side that basically did not benefit the average American. So I voted against it,' Manchin said. 'I think there are some adjustments that need to be made.'
Senator Joe Manchin, a key moderate Democrat, said he was open to passing a major reconciliation bill on infrastructure without Republican support
The White House has been on a two-track strategy when it comes to infrastructure.
The first track involves White House staff negotiating with Republicans on a deal involving traditional infrastructure items. A 'human' infrastructure package would come separately.
The second track would see infrastructure pass through reconciliation - and therefore without any GOP support. It would include traditional items and the 'human' infrastructure items that Republicans object to but liberal Democrats are demanding.
'We've been saying two tracks,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. 'Today is an example of two tracks actually moving forward at one time and one day.'
'They're both moving at a rapid pace,' she said when asked which was moving faster.
'We're at a later stage, obviously in the bipartisan negotiations, you all
