Failing to muster enough support to pass the so-called Build Back Better Act in the Senate before the New Year, the Democratic Party has shifted its attention to federalizing elections and expanding dangerous voting practices, like ballot-harvesting and universal mail-in voting.
President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., could not convince Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to vote in favor of the Build Back Better Act, NBC News reported.
Manchin has opposed the bill because he believes that its price tag is too high and that it will drive inflation even higher. There are also ongoing negotiations about a fee on methane emissions and a scaling back of Trump-era caps on state and local tax deductions.
The bill’s nominal price tag stood at $1.7 trillion, but some estimates have placed its true cost at $3 trillion.
There is little indication that Manchin—who hails from a deep red state—will favor a radical voting “reform” bill like H.R.1 (aka the For the People Act), which would enshrine into federal law nationwide early voting, automatic voter registration, same day and online voter registration, and no-excuse absentee and mail-in voting.
Without taking the drastic measure to abolish the filibuster Democrats do not have the votes to pass the controversial bill by normal measures.
They would need 60 votes in the Senate to overcome the filibuster, but since they cannot get a simple 50-vote majority, plus Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote, to pass the Build Back Better Act.
Although Democrats will likely keep trying to push the Build Back Better Act after the New Year, talks between Biden and Manchin are going “very poorly,” according to an anonymous source.
But Schumer has not abandoned hope of passing the bill this year.
“The president and Sen. Manchin are having many discussions, and we’re waiting to see the outcome of those,” he said.
