Sen. Joe Manchin is “gettable” on a revised Build Back Better package, a key part of the Biden administration’s agenda, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Monday.
“I think he’s gettable. I think we will get him. I think this is going to happen,” Raimondo said during a POLITICO Women Rule interview.
It was opposition from Manchin (D-W.Va.) that effectively sunk Democrats’ plans late last year to pass President Joe Biden’s massive social spending package, which includes provisions on child care, education, climate change and infrastructure, through an evenly-divided Senate. Manchin has not ruled out supporting a retooled and scaled-back package but negotiations on such a bill have yet to take shape. The West Virginia senator said last month that such talks would be “starting from scratch, whenever they start.”
With no margin for error in the Senate, any legislation would need the support of Manchin — and every other Democratic senator — in order to pass.
“He is publicly on record saying he supports investments in the care economy and supports the investments to bring about universal pre-K,” Raimondo said. “We know there are a large parts of it he does support.”
“Huge infrastructure” packages can take a long time to pass, Raimondo said, recalling a legislative push during her tenure as Rhode Island governor that took months longer than expected. But “sooner is better,” she said, urging for a version of the president’s spending plan to make its way through Congress in the coming weeks.
