Missouri Rep. Cori Bush (D) called out West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) on Monday after he said that he would not support the latest framework of the Democrats' social spending proposal, which now has a price tag of less than $2 trillion, further delaying a vote on the legislation.
She said that Manchin refusing to back the bill is "anti-Black, anti-child, anti-woman and anti-immigrant."
"Joe Manchin does not get to dictate the future of our country," Bush said in a statement. "I do not trust his assessment of what our communities need the most. I trust the parents in my district who can’t get to their shift without childcare. I trust the scientists who have shown us what our future will look like if we fail to meaningfully address the climate crisis. I trust the patients and doctors crying out for comprehensive health coverage for every person in America."
She added that the Build Back Better Act would benefit black, brown and Indigenous communities that were "overwhelmingly excluded from the bipartisan infrastructure bill."
This comes after Manchin told reporters earlier on Monday that he would not vote in favor of the spending bill, despite the cost of it being cut down to $1.75 trillion, because the legislation's authors were using "shell games" and "gimmicks" that make the true price of the proposal closer to the initial cost of $3.5 trillion.
"I will not support the reconciliation legislation without knowing how the bill would impact our debt and our economy and our country," he said.
Democrats have grown increasingly frustrated with the party's two moderates, Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, for their continued opposition to President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act because, in a 50-50 majority split in the Senate, every Democrat must vote in favor of the legislation to pass it.
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