Biden's Build Back Better Bill Delayed Amid Opposition

Stalled negotiations between President Joe Biden and a key centrist Democrat will likely delay passage of Biden's $1.75 trillion spending plan until 2022.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a moderate Democrat, has for months been one of the bill's prominent detractors, and his reservations about the spending plan were a primary reason for its pricetag being cut down from the original $3.5 trillion proposal. Multiple sources cited across the spectrum described the negotiations between Biden and Manchin as "far apart." On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats will "continue working on getting the Senate in a position where we can vote on the President's Build Back Better legislation," but did not mention his goal of passing it by Christmas as he had in other recent statements. Democrats may reportedly shift focus to passing new voting rights legislation while the spending bill impasse persists.

Outlets across the spectrum covered the news and highlighted other obstacles to the bill, such as disagreement among Democrats about expanded Medicare provisions and climate change spending. Reports from right-rated sources often framed the spending plan as excessive and focused on Republicans' criticisms of it; some used the Congressional Budget Office's $3 trillion estimate to describe the bill's cost instead of the $1.75 trillion figure.