Progressives’ Biggest Fear About the Build Back Better Act Has Come To Pass
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) speaks to reporters as she leaves a meeting with Progressive House Democrats at the US Capitol on October 28, 2021, in Washington, DC. , Drew Angerer/Getty Images
There’s a reason Progressives wanted the social spending bill tied to infrastructure.
by Li Zhou
For members of “the Squad,” a group of staunch progressives in the House, Sen. Joe Manchin’s statement opposing the Build Back Better Act (BBB) didn’t come as a surprise. They’d long warned it was just a matter of time before Manchin derailed the bill if a vote on infrastructure legislation, which he supported, was held first.
It turns out they were right.
Manchin has previously voiced a variety of concerns about the massive climate and social spending bill, and has repeatedly demanded it be trimmed down. In an attempt to pressure the moderate senator to support the measure, progressives lobbied Democratic leaders into keeping it linked to a vote on a massive infrastructure package known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF), as that latter bill was seen as a priority for Manchin.
The bills were coupled for weeks but were eventually separated due to pressure from House moderates and an assurance from President Joe Biden that he’d secure a yes vote from Manchin on BBB. Most House progressives voted in favor of the BIF; in the end, the six House members in “the Squad” were the only ones within the Congressional Progressive Caucus who voted against it. At the time, they reiterated fears that passing the infrastructure bill first would give up any leverage they had to pressure moderate lawmakers like Manchin to consider the Build Back Better Act.
Just over a month after that vote, Manchin has told Fox News he’s “a no” on BBB.
“We have been saying this for weeks that this would happen,” Squad member Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) emphasized in an MSNBC interview on Sunday. “Having [the infrastructure bill and BBB] coupled together was the only leverage we had. And what did the caucus do? We tossed it.”
Bush’s stance was echoed by other Squad members, like Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and it’s now clear these progressives were correct to be worried. Although it’s uncertain just how open Manchin is to a different version of the BBB Act, the comments he made opposing it on Sunday effectively doom the current version.
Democrats are attempting to pass BBB via a process known as budget reconciliation, which allows legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority. They therefore need all 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus on board to approve it — a fragile unity that’s impossible to achieve without Manchin’s vote. That fact has given Manchin, the bill’s largest detractor in the Senate, a lot of say over its fate. Over the past few months, he’s shown he’s more than willing to make full use of that influence. He did so again Sunday, shaking what little faith many progressives had left in him.
“Maybe they’ll believe us next time. Or maybe people will just keep calling us naive,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tweeted on Sunday.
Progressives have long feared that moderates would abandon BBB without the infrastructure bill
For months, the CPC emphasized that it wouldn’t move along the bipartisan infrastructure bill without a concurrent vote on the Build Back Better Act. Members worried that moderates including Manchin would potentially abandon the social spending legislation once infrastructure passed. They were able to issue this ultimatum because the House also has a thin Democratic majority and the CPC has the numbers to keep any bill from passing.