Manchin’s Concerns Remain ‘Unresolved’ Amid Final Push to Pass BBB Before Campaign Season

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) questions US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra as he testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies regarding the 2023 proposed budget estimates for the Department of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill on May 4, 2022. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

As Democrats scramble to pass a trimmed-down version of the Build Back Better (BBB) social spending package before the end of summer and the start of an intense campaign season, Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) concerns about the package remain “unresolved.”

The push to pass BBB began during the summer of 2021. Using the budget reconciliation process, the legislation would be able to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate and be approved by a simple majority.