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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) called Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) Monday morning to explain himself to the Congressional Progressive Caucus chair, and Jayapal said she gave him an earful. (snip) “And obviously yesterday, the senator took the latter path and went back on this word. That lack of integrity is stunning in a town where people say the only thing that you have is your word.” Jayapal went on to say that she said as much to Manchin when he called her on Monday. “There is nothing I have said here that I didn’t say to him,” Jayapal said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Democratic colleagues Monday that this legislative session has led to moments of "deep discontent and frustration" as the Build Back Better Act hangs in limbo, blaming Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., for not coming "to an agreement" with President Biden, while maintaining that the caucus will continue to "try to find a way forward" on the president’s economic agenda. In a letter to Democratic colleagues Monday morning, Schumer, D-N.Y., reflected on the first session of the 117th Congress — which he pointed out "began with Republicans in the majority but quickly switched to Democratic control...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, and other members of the progressive squad assailed Sen. Joe Manchin after the centrist Democrat from West Virginia said he would not support President Biden's Build Back Better plan. 'Our entire democracy is on the line,' Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Sunday. 'We, as always, are here to fight for this agenda. What matters most to us is that it gets done. But we cannot just shrug our shoulders and accept this as some Charlie Brown moment. So we need to get back in there and get this s*** done. Period.' She then called on Majority Leader Chuck...

Bette Midler is walking back an insult. The 76-year-old performer is known for speaking her mind on Twitter – especially when it comes to politics. On Monday, she took to social media to slam Joe Manchin, West Virginia's Democratic senator who has announced that he's against the Build Back Better Act, which would expand the country's social safety net. "What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible," Midler tweeted. "He sold us out. He wants us all to be just...

Fifteen state financial officers sent a letter to U.S. banks last week noting $600 billion in assets they pledge to take elsewhere if the financial institutions embrace corporate wokeism and prohibit financing to the fossil fuel industry. Led by West Virginia Republican Treasurer Riley Moore, the group promised “collective action” in the form of an “economic boycott.” “Just as each state represented in this letter is unique in its governing laws and economy, our actions will take different forms,” they wrote in the letter obtained by The Federalist. “However, the overarching objective of our actions will be the same –...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major step to fight climate change, the Biden administration is raising vehicle mileage standards to significantly reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases, reversing a Trump-era rollback that loosened fuel efficiency standards. A final rule issued Monday would raise mileage standards starting in the 2023 model year, reaching a projected industry-wide target of 40 miles per gallon by 2026. The new standard is 25% higher than a rule finalized by the Trump administration last year and 5% higher than a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency in August. “We are setting robust and rigorous standards that...

If Sen. Joe Manchin bolts the Democratic Party, he'd be more likely to switch to independent — and caucus with the Democrats — than become a Republican, people close to him tell Axios. Driving the news: Manchin’s surprise body blow to President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda set off new speculation across the Democratic Party — including inside the White House — that he may leave the party next year. * The timing and destination of Manchin's declaration: "I can’t get there. This is a no" — on "Fox News Sunday," days before Christmas — seemed designed for maximum impact....

Manchin's hard 'No' on spending bill coBuffeted by a Russia scandal that proved false, Donald Trump ended the first year of his presidency on a high note with passage of historic tax cuts. In contrast four years later, Joe Biden's first year in office is ending with a stunning rebuke from a senator in his own party.On Sunday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) gave a resounding "No" to Biden's signature Build Back Better legislation, leaving an uncertain path for the Democrats' ambitious agenda despite the fact they control the Senate, House and White House.Their future is further complicated by an aging...

When Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced on Fox News on Sunday that he won’t vote for the current version of Build Back Better, experts predicted he may have single-handedly killed the world’s best hope of avoiding catastrophic climate change.

Democratic pollster Doug Schoen is sounding the alarm for the Democratic Party’s 2022 midterm prospects. In fact, according to Schoen and fellow pollster Carley Cooperman, "Democrats’ political prospects are significantly deteriorating" — and they have the data to prove it. What do the data show? Recent data collected by Schoen Cooperman Research proves the Democratic Party is becoming increasing unfavorable and vulnerable to massive losses in 2022. The key findings include: 53% of likely voters believe President Joe Biden "hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems," compared to 38% who believe Biden's priorities are correct; 66% of...

President Joe Biden settled back into hiding at the White House on Monday as he cleared his schedule of any public events. Biden returned to the White House from another weekend at his home in Delaware, but he did not engage with reporters shouting questions about the death of his Build Back Better bill or Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) declaration that he would not vote for it.

Sen. Joe Manchin's bombshell decision to sink President Joe economic agenda has reignited rumors that he may defect from the Democratic Party next year. Axios reported early Monday that people around Manchin are discussing him leaving. It did not name any. Those sources said Manchin would prefer to be an independent and caucus with Democrats — the same arrangement as Sen. Bernie Sanders — than to fully switch sides and join the Republicans. The conservative West Virginia senator on Sunday said he could not support Biden's $1.75 trillion "Build Back Better" spending plan and told Fox News: "I can't get...

Go ahead, Jen Psaki. Put out a furious, Biden-approved statement, accusing Joe Manchin of failing to "honor his prior commitments," of breaking his "promise," of—not to put too fine a point on it—lying. Bernie Sanders: enjoy your moment of accusing Manchin of not having the "guts" to stand up to powerful special interests. And Ilhan Omar, bask in the rosy glow of calling Manchin's reasons for opposing Build Back Better "bull----." The three of you, and the other Democrats who are lashing out at Manchin, see how you enjoy life with Mitch McConnell back in the Senate Majority-Leader saddle. That...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) hit back at White House staff Monday and warned that Democrats had miscalculated by thinking that they could pressure him into backing President Biden's spending plan. "They figured surely to God we can move one person. We surely can badger and beat one person up. Surely we can get enough protesters to make that person uncomfortable enough that they'll just say, 'OK I'll vote for anything,'" he said in a local radio interview. "Well, guess what? I'm from West Virginia. I'm not from where they're from and they can just beat the living crap out of...

Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances. Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the President, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the President then subsequently announced. Senator Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework “in good faith.” 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...

The White House accused Joe Manchin on Sunday for breaking his word after the Democrat publicly said he is a 'no' on President Joe Biden's Build Back Better initiative following months of negotiations over the social spending legislation. 'Senator Manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead, and to work with us to reach that common ground,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on his latest comments. 'If his comments on Fox and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position,' she added, 'and a...

...snip... That’s just a taste of what’s in the legislation. One of its most egregious features is a $2.5 billion handout to trial lawyers, and it may be here where we will discover whether Manchin is really the man of the Mountain State that he claims to be or a Washington swamp creature. The BBB would allow trial lawyers everywhere in the country to deduct their contingency-fee expenses whether they lose or win a case (even though winning their lawsuit means taking a large percentage of the monetary award, typically 30 0r 40 percent). The Joint Committee on Taxation pegs...

Progressives slammed Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., after he revealed Sunday that he would not support President Biden’s massive social spending bill known as the Build Back Better Act after months of party negotiations."Let’s be clear: Manchin’s excuse is bull----," Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., tweeted. "The people of West Virginia would directly benefit from childcare, pre-Medicare expansion, and long term care, just like Minnesotans. This is exactly what we warned would happen if we separated Build Back Better from infrastructure." Manchin said earlier on "Fox News Sunday" that he had spoken with Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority...

Senator Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.) says he’s done with President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation. And if saying so on Fox News wasn’t enough, he added an explanation point in a statement released shortly after his appearance, in which he declared: “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. I cannot take that risk.” It is, of course, possible that once they stare into the abyss of defeat, Biden and Democrats may decide to finally cave and give Manchin everything...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) opposition to President Biden's social spending package was "a breach of his commitments" calling his reversal on the bill "inexplicable." “Senator Manchin’s comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances,” Psaki said in a statement on Sunday shortly after Manchin told Fox's Brett Baier that he was a "no" on the legislation.