Disagreements on policy and a crowded Senate to-do list are further complicating Democrats’ path to passing their sweeping social safety net and climate package in some form or another.
Sen. Joe Manchin III said Tuesday he views the bill in its current form as “dead” and wants to tackle other legislative goals first, indicating Democrats aren’t any closer to a deal with the West Virginia centrist on spending provisions than they were weeks ago.
Manchin and several other Democratic senators confirmed Tuesday larger-scale talks on the package have yet to resume, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., dismissed the idea of negotiating any relief from a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, another issue dividing the caucus. In the Senate, Democrats can’t lose any votes and pass the roughly $2 trillion budget bill through the reconciliation process, which bypasses united GOP opposition and allows for a simple majority vote.
