The Washington Post - USA (2022-06-07)

A6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, JUNE 7 , 2022

telling reporters that most of the

price increases are “expected to

be temporary.”

But in August and September,

inflation appeared to be plateau-

ing. Summers publicly supported

Build Back Better, arguing it

would do little to exacerbate high

prices because it included new

tax hikes and most of its spend-

ing programs represented long-

term changes to the U.S. econo-

my. As the party worked to pass a

$1 trillion bipartisan infrastruc-

ture law, the president invited

Manchin and Schumer in Octo-

ber to the first official meeting of

his presidency at his private

Wilmington residence to ham-

mer out an agreement over Build

Back Better.

The Oct. 24 breakfast started

soon after the president returned

from church. With senior staff in

attendance, Biden, Manchin and

Schumer spent roughly three

hours developing a “framework”

estimated to cost roughly

$1.75 trillion — far below the

$3.5 trillion the White House had

agreed on with the rest of the

party — and later agreed to ex-

clude some top liberal priorities,

such as a national paid leave

program and a central climate

program.

The breakfast left White

House officials feeling optimis-

tic. Biden told at least two Demo-

cratic lawmakers that they had

an agreement to extend the ex-

panded Child Tax Credit for one

year. The stimulus had only ex-

panded the credit — the center-

piece of the president’s plan to

fight child poverty — for one year.

Yet Manchin’s concerns about

key parts of the legislation had

deepened. Accounts differ over

whether Manchin had in fact

agreed to extend the child ben-

efit. In November, after the feder-

al government reported that in-

flation was again surging, Man-

chin’s misgivings grew, and he

told other lawmakers that he was

hearing that families were using

the extra money on drugs. White

House aides pointed to academic

research to the contrary, but

Manchin’s unease remained.

Manchin also began arguing

that Democrats were hiding the

true cost of Biden’s plan by sched-

uling various programs to expire

— though they fully intended to

make them permanent later.

billion in state and local aid.

Some economists believe that

was excessive, and many states

last year reported large budget

surpluses.

Manchin’s concerns about the

administration’s economic stew-

ardship deepened over the sum-

mer as inflation looked like more

of a threat. He consulted occa-

sionally with Larry Summers, the

Democratic former treasury sec-

retary, who has been fiercely crit-

ical of the White House’s stimu-

lus plan. At a previously reported

July 14 lunch of Democratic sena-

tors that Biden attended, Man-

chin said that he was concerned

about inflation and that West

Virginians were already seeing

much higher prices. The next

week, Biden publicly down-

played the threat of inflation,

be salvaged.

How the breach with

Manchin emerged

Manchin’s relationship with

Biden got off to a rocky start not

long after the president’s inaugu-

ration.

In March 2021, Biden persuad-

ed Manchin to support a $1.9 tril-

lion stimulus plan that some

economists now argue exacerbat-

ed the inflationary pressures hit-

ting the country. During negotia-

tions over the measure, Manchin

had raised concerns about the

amount of state and local aid in

the plan. But while Democrats

agreed to some of Manchin’s re-

quests — lowering the amount of

pandemic unemployment ben-

efits, for instance — they stuck

with their plan to approve $

sations. “There was a complete

misunderstanding of the situa-

tion. They really thought they

were still all in the sandbox.

That’s the tragedy of this.”

This account of how the nego-

tiations fell apart is based on

interviews with approximately

three dozen White House offi-

cials, lawmakers, congressional

aides and outside allies, many of

whom spoke on the condition of

anonymity to describe private

conversations.

It includes new details of how

Biden’s legislative agenda col-

lapsed, the breakdown in trust

that precipitated it and the on-

going efforts to revive parts of it

this spring, which are n ow giving

Democrats more optimism than

they have had in months that

something from their plans can

demands for weeks.

The evidence suggests the

breakdown was months in the

making, driven by ideological

and political rifts between Man-

chin and Biden that mirror deep-

er fissures in the Democratic

Party. Among the unresolved pol-

icy disputes was a battle over an

expanded tax credit for parents

that the White House viewed as a

signature antipoverty program —

but that Manchin opposed as too

generous and expensive.

“The White House did not

know this was a red line for

Manchin,” said one person in

direct communication with both

Manchin and senior White

House officials, referring to the

Dec. 16 statement. The person

spoke on the condition of ano-

nymity to reflect private conver-

extremely dangerous” at a time
when liberal activists were target-
ing Manchin’s family with pro-
tests.
Three days later, Manchin de-
clared his opposition to the legis-
lation on Fox News. The negotia-
tions never recovered, and Build
Back Better — encompassing
years of Democratic policy aspi-
rations to reduce child poverty,
transform the nation’s housing
system, enact new early educa-
tion programs, tax the rich, and
more — was effectively dead.
After his Fox News interview,
Manchin turned his phone off,
which meant he missed a call
from Biden, who left a frustrated
voice mail. When the pair con-
nected, the conversation was
heated and tense. For several
weeks, Biden and Manchin did
not speak again. In private, the
president criticized Manchin to
aides, expressing doubt about his
intentions.
As lawmakers return this week
to Capitol Hill, talks have been
rekindled between Manchin and
Senate Majority Leader Charles
E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) over a pro-
posal likely to be far less substan-
tial than the nearly $2 trillion
deal Manchin and the White
House seemed to be moving
toward sealing last year. With
Republicans hoping to win con-
trol of Congress in this fall’s
elections, Biden may never have
a better chance to leave a lasting
policy legacy.
But the breakdown last year
remains baffling to many close to
both Manchin and senior White
House officials. Biden aides are
still in disbelief that Manchin
abandoned months of painstak-
ing negotiations, seemingly in
an instant, over what they re-
garded as an innocent statement
that they did not believe would
offend the senator. They are left
wrestling with the question of
how legislation of such historic
dimensions appears to have
been doomed by a simple mis-
communication over a news re-
lease. Manchin’s allies do not
understand why the White
House would have done any-
thing to needlessly provoke the
key vote for their legislative aspi-
rations and believe the adminis-
tration had already ignored his

MANCHIN FROM A

A breakdown in trust helped precipitate the collapse of t he president’s agenda

MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

A statement about the Build Back Better talks that White House officials s aw as innocent is among the issues causing the rift between

Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and President Biden. Manchin allies say it n eedlessly provoked a key vote on Biden’s agenda.

David Duchovny

Actor & Author, “The Reservoir: A Novella”

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