After weeks of infighting between Senate Democrats over Congressโs domestic budget negotiations, tensions boiled over at a news conference Wednesday when Sen. Bernie Sanders publicly questioned the priorities of moderate Democrats who are holding out.
The news conference came as the Senate attempts to reach a deal on a $3.5 trillion spending package, which is backed by President Joe Biden and nearly all House Democrats. But opposed from within the party is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who earlier Wednesday criticized the budget and its associated social programs as moving the country toward โan entitlement society.โ
With the Senate evenly split between the two parties, Democrats cannot afford to lose a single senator. If the Senate divides 50-50, Vice President Kamala Harris can break the tie in favor of the Democrats.
Sanders, as chair of the Senate Budget Committee, plays a major role in negotiating the package, which includes funding for health care, prescription drugs, child care, family and medical leave, climate change mitigation, and more. At Wednesdayโs news conference, he went after Manchin specifically for nearly five minutes straight.
โSen. Manchin talks about not wanting to see our country become โan entitlement society,โโ Vermontโs independent senator said. โWell, Iโm not exactly sure what that means.โ
Saying โitโs not good enough to be vague,โ Sanders pressed Manchin in a series of questions about what components of the package he considers entitlements: the $300-per-month child tax credit, the expansion of Medicare benefits to cover seniorsโ dental and eye care, or paid family and medical leave for workers?
โThe time is long overdue for [Manchin] to tell us with specificity โ not generalities, but beyond generalities, with specificity โ what he wants and what he does not want, and to explain that to the people of West Virginia and America,โ Sanders said.
Through a spokesperson, Manchin on Thursday responded to Sanders with a written statement, saying he and the Vermont progressive โshare very different policy and political beliefs.โ
โAs he and I have discussed, Sen. Sanders believes America should be moving towards an entitlement society while I believe we should have a compassionate and rewarding society,โ he said.
Sanders said Wednesday that his concern with Manchin is not his difference of opinion but that he is one of two members holding up a deal widely agreed upon among the Democratic caucus.
โMy concern with Mr. Manchin is not so much what his views are โ I disagree with him โ but it is that it is wrong, it is really not playing fair, that one or two people think that they should be able to stop what 48 members of the Democratic caucus want, what the American people want, what the president of the United States wants,โ he said.
Reporters also asked Sanders on Wednesday about U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a moderate Democrat from Arizona who has emerged as a pivotal vote for Democrats. Sanders said he would โabsolutelyโ like to hear more from Sinema on her specific views on the package.
Questioned on whether he would concede some of the budget items in order to reach a concession with moderate Democrats and Republicans who deem $3.5 trillion too expensive, Sanders said no.
โAm I willing to concede? No,โ he answered. โWhat I do believe is $3.5 [trillion] is too little, to be frank with you. Now what I have said, and will repeat, is that itโs going to be a give-and-take. This is part of the process.โ
