Biden tries new strategy with moderates as frustration grows

President Biden this week took the rare step of calling out two Democratic moderates — Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) — in a sign of growing frustration over stalled legislative priorities.

Congressional aides say Democratic lawmakers have been reaching out to the White House in hopes that Biden would be more actively involved in efforts to convince Manchin, a key swing vote, to get behind the Democratic agenda.

Manchin has expressed opposition to core elements of Biden’s legislative priorities such as raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, overhauling campaign finance and election law, enacting a House-passed bill to expand background checks, and raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent. Sinema has also bucked her party at times, particularly on raising the minimum wage.

Biden on Tuesday took a new tack by singling out Manchin and Sinema as two significant obstacles to his agenda, though he did not name them directly.

Referring to himself in the third person, the president said: “Biden only has a majority of effectively four votes in the House, and a tie in the Senate — with two members of the Senate who voted more with my Republican friends.”

The remark struck a tone that Democratic senators thought was appropriate, particularly since it put Manchin and Sinema on notice but in a way that didn’t imperil future cooperation, even though they in fact do not vote more with Republicans than Democrats.

“I think he’s angry but he keeps it under control. I think he knows the consequences of lashing out at Manchin and Sinema are just going to be counterproductive,” said Ross K. Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University who has served several stints as a Senate fellow.