Washington: A top Democrat has said that the Senate will vote on President Joe Biden’s roughly $2 trillion social spending and climate bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, early next year.
“Nearly all of us were disappointed by the decision to delay floor consideration of the Build Back Better Act because Senator (Joe) Manchin could not come to an agreement with the President,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a letter to Democratic colleagues on Monday.
“However, neither that delay, nor other recent pronouncements, will deter us from continuing to try to find a way forward. We simply cannot give up,” he said.
Schumer noted that the Senate will consider the Build Back Better Act “very early in the new year” so that “every Member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television”, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We are going to vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act – and we will keep voting on it until we get something done,” he said.
Schumer’s letter came after Manchin, a key moderate Democratic senator from West Virginia, said on Sunday that he would not vote for Biden’s social spending and climate bill, delivering a major blow to the White House.
“This is a no on this legislation. I have tried everything I know to do,” Manchin said on Fox News, citing concerns about the surging inflation and the $29 trillion national debt.
Progressive and moderate Democrats have disagreed publicly on the size and scope of the social spending package for months, although House Democrats were able to pass its version of the bill last month.
Passage of the bill in the Senate will require unanimous support from the Democratic caucus.
(IANS)
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