弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦给了乔·拜登总统一个潜在的致命打击重建得更好法案在“福克斯新闻频道星期天”上，当他宣布他对目前的立法是“不”的时候。

“我一直说，如果我不能回家向西弗吉尼亚州的人民解释，我就不能投票支持它。我不能投票继续这项立法。我就是不能。我已经尽了一切努力。我到不了那里，”曼钦说。

尽管几个月来“每天”与该党不同成员就立法工作，但曼钦表示，他对通胀和项目成本的担忧仍然存在。

“你说完了?这是不?”主持人布雷特·拜尔问道。

“这是对这项立法的否定。我已经尝试了我知道要做的一切，”曼钦回答说，并补充说拜登工作“勤奋”，与他一起工作“很棒”，但他知道自己有顾虑。

这些评论是曼钦迄今为止最权威的评论。它们实际上终结了民主党通过拜登1.75万亿美元社会支出计划的希望通过了众议院上个月，仅凭民主党的选票，通过立法程序实现和解。曼钦是关键的第50票，这是让法案通过并提交给总统的关键一票。

安娜·赚钱者/盖蒂图像公司

参议员乔·曼钦在离开与参议院德的核心小组会议时被记者跟踪...

白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)周日下午用一份冗长的声明回应了曼钦，称这位参议员周日的爆炸性声明与他本周早些时候在私下谈判中表示的“不一致”——证实白宫对曼钦的消息措手不及，并强烈批评这位参议员“突然莫名其妙地改变了立场。”

普萨基周日表示:“本周二，参议员曼钦来到白宫，直接亲自向总统提交了一份“重建得更好”法案的书面大纲，其规模和范围与总统的框架相同，涵盖了许多相同的优先事项。“如果他对福克斯的评论和书面声明表明这一努力已经结束，那就意味着他的立场突然发生了令人费解的逆转，违背了他对总统和参议员在众议院和参议院的同事们的承诺。”

曼钦周日在福克斯电视台上说:“布莱特从未改变的事情，基本上是他们试图通过改变我们可以依赖的时间来完成的同样多的事情。“所以，如果你打算做什么，就选择我们知道的优先事项，就像大多数人在他们的家庭或企业中做的那样，你为他们提供10年的资金，并确保他们提供10年的服务。”

曼钦发表上述言论的几天前，总统承认，尽管参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)几周来一直坚称参议院有望在新年前就该法案进行投票，并承诺本周继续与曼钦进行谈判，但有关该法案的谈判可能会滑入新的一年。

舒默承认周五的发言速度有所加快，但坚称议员们将在幕后继续谈判，以在新的一年推进社会支出提案。

目前还不清楚民主党人可能会在2022年提出什么样的修改提案，以试图满足曼钦的担忧，这些担忧主要集中在法案的总体成本及其对已经上升的通胀率的潜在影响上。

曼钦说:“我在华盛顿的民主党同事决心大幅重塑我们的社会，让我们的国家更容易受到我们面临的威胁。“我不能冒这个风险，因为我背负着超过29万亿美元的巨额债务和通胀税，而这些税对每个辛勤工作的美国人来说都是真实的、有害的，包括汽油泵、杂货店和看不到尽头的公用事业账单。”

民主党人长期以来一直声称，1.75万亿美元的一揽子计划将在10年内全额支付，不会影响通胀率。但该计划中的许多项目将在10年支付期之前结束，这是曼钦反对的。

在周日的声明中，他引用了无党派国会预算办公室修改后的成本估算，该办公室发现，如果法案中的所有项目延长整整10年，将增加3万亿美元的联邦赤字。他指责该法案的支持者继续“掩盖该法案背后意图的真实成本”。

共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆要求修改曼钦提到的预算提案。在周日的推文中，他加入了支持曼钦决定的共和党议员的合唱。

“CBO的分析证实了曼钦参议员对“重建得更好”的最大担忧。他一直表示，他不会支持一个充满噱头的法案，一个增加债务的法案，或者一个让通胀恶化的法案，”格雷厄姆说。

伯尼·桑德斯参议员。他一直是在参议院领导“重建更好”法案的参议员之一，他对这位西弗吉尼亚州参议员在美国有线电视新闻网的“国情咨文”中投反对票进行了尖锐的指责，称曼钦在他的投票上“有很多要向西弗吉尼亚州人民解释的事情”。

桑德斯和白宫都把矛头对准了曼钦，尤其是在儿童税收抵免方面。儿童税收抵免是美国救援计划的一部分，将于今年年底到期。最终付款于12月15日交付。

普萨基在声明中说:“也许曼钦参议员可以向数百万已经摆脱贫困的儿童解释，部分原因是儿童税收抵免，为什么他想结束一个正在帮助实现这一里程碑的项目——我们不能。

“如果曼钦先生投了反对票，那些300美元的税收抵免已经大大减少了美国儿童的贫困——它们已经消失了。结束了。我们将儿童贫困率降低了40%以上，这是一项非凡的成就。曼钦不想这样做，告诉西弗吉尼亚州和美国的挣扎家庭，”桑德斯说。桑德斯在美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)上说:“我本希望我们能有至少50名民主党人，他们有勇气为工薪家庭挺身而出，与游说者和强大的特殊利益集团对抗。“我们没有共和党人，在美国参议院或众议院，没有一个共和党人准备好对抗制药公司、保险公司或富人。”

曼钦的言论也证实了一些众议院进步人士长期以来的担忧，他们努力通过两党基础设施法和“重建得更好”法案，以确保这两项法案的通过，其中包括众议院议员阿扬娜·普雷斯利。

“明确地说，我缺乏信任和赤字是关于参议员曼钦的。他继续移动门柱;他从来没有真诚地进行过谈判，并且正在阻碍总统的议程，85%的议程仍然留在桌面上。普雷斯利在美国有线电视新闻网上说:“阻碍总统的议程，就是阻碍人民的议程。

Manchin says he's a 'no' on Biden's Build Back Better social spending plan

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., delivered a potentially fatal blow to President Joe Biden'sBuild Back Better billon "Fox News Sunday," when he announced that he is a "no" on the current legislation.

"I've always said if I can't go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can't vote for it. I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there," Manchin said.

Despite working "every day" for months with different members of the party on the legislation, Manchin said his concerns about inflation and the cost of the program still stand.

"You're done? This is a no?" host Bret Baier asked.

"This is a no on this piece of legislation. I have tried everything I know to do," Manchin replied, adding that Biden worked "diligently" and was "wonderful to work with" but knew he had concerns.

The comments were Manchin's most definitive to date. They effectively end Democrats' hopes of passing Biden's $1.75 trillion social spending plan aspassed the Houselast month, with Democratic votes alone, through the legislative process of reconciliation. Manchin is the crucial 50th vote needed to get the bill across the line, and onto the president's desk.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded to Manchin Sunday afternoon with a lengthy statement, arguing the senator's bombshell announcement Sunday is "at odds" with what he indicated in private negotiations earlier this week -- confirming the White House was caught off guard by Manchin's news, and strongly criticizing the senator for the "sudden and inexplicable reversal of his position."

"On Tuesday of this week, Senator Manchin came to the White House and submitted—to the President, in person, directly—a written outline for a Build Back Better bill that was the same size and scope as the President's framework, and covered many of the same priorities," Psaki said Sunday. "If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator's colleagues in the House and Senate."

"The thing that never changed Bret, was basically the same amount of things that they're trying to accomplish by just changing, if you will, the amount of time that we can depend on it," Manchin said Sunday on Fox. "So if you're going to do something and do it, pick what we're apprised priorities are like most people do in their families, or their businesses, and you fund them for 10 years and you make sure they deliver the services for 10 years."

Manchin's comments came just days after the president acknowledged that negotiations over the bill would likely slide into the new year, despite Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for weeks insisting the Senate was on track to take a vote on the bill before the new year, and pledged to continue negotiations with Manchin this week.

Schumer acknowledged the speed bump in floor remarks on Friday, but insisted lawmakers would continue negotiations behind the scene to advance the social spending proposal in the new year.

It's unclear what, if any, sort of modified proposal Democrats might return with in 2022 to try to meet Manchin's concerns, which are principally focused on the overall cost of the bill and its potential impact on already rising inflation rates.

"My Democratic colleagues in Washington are determined to dramatically reshape our society in a way that leaves our country even more vulnerable to the threats we face," Manchin said. "I cannot take that risk with a staggering debt of more than $29 trillion and inflation taxes that are real and harmful to every hard-working American at the gasoline pumps, grocery stores and utility bills with no end in sight."

Democrats have long claimed that the $1.75 trillion package is fully paid for over 10 years and will not impact inflation rates. But many of the programs in the package are set to end before the 10 year pay period, something Manchin opposes.

In his statement Sunday, he cited a modified cost estimate by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which found that if all programs in the bill were extended for a full 10 years, it would add $3 trillion to the federal deficit. He accused supporters of the bill of continuing to "​​camouflage the real cost of the intent behind this bill."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., requested the modified budget proposal Manchin referenced. In tweets Sunday, he joined a chorus of GOP lawmakers who championed Manchin's decision.

"The CBO analysis confirmed Sen. Manchin's worst fears about Build Back Better. He has always stated that he will not support a bill full of gimmicks, a bill that added to the debt or a bill that made inflation worse," Graham said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has been one of the senators leading the charge on the Build Back Better bill in Senate, had a sharp rebuke of the West Virginia Senator's no vote on CNN's "State of the Union," saying Manchin had "a lot of explaining to do to the people of West Virginia" on his vote.

Both Sanders and the White House took aim at Manchin in particular on Child Tax Credits that were expanded as part of the American Rescue Plan, and are set to expire at the end of the year. The final payment was delivered on Dec. 15.

"Maybe Sen. Manchin can explain to the millions of children who have been lifted out of poverty, in part due to the Child Tax Credit, why he wants to end a program that is helping achieve this milestone—we cannot," Psaki said in her statement.

"If Mr. Manchin Votes no, those $300 tax credits that have gone a long way to reduce childhood poverty in America- they're gone. That's over. We cut childhood poverty by over 40%, an extraordinary accomplishment. Manchin doesn't want to do that, tell that to the struggling families of West Virginia and America," Sanders said. "I would have hoped that we could have had at least 50 Democrats on board who have the guts to stand up for working families and take on the lobbyists and the powerful special interests," Sanders said on CNN. "We have no Republicans, not one Republican in the United States Senate or the House for that matter is prepared to stand up to the drug companies or the insurance companies or wealthy."

Manchin's comments also confirm long-held fears by some House Progressive, who fought to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure law in tandem with the Build Back Better act to ensure the passage of both bills -- including Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.

"To be clear, my lack and deficit of trust was about Sen. Manchin. He's continued to move the goalpost; he's never negotiated in good faith and is obstructing the president's agenda, 85% is still left on the table. In obstructing the president's agenda, he's obstructing the people's agenda," Pressley said on CNN.