In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden called for the resurrection of several Build Back Better (BBB) policies, including government-financed childcare, paid family leave, and in-home healthcare. Several Senate Democrats are pushing for such a package, but are again facing opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.).
In December 2021 Manchin, after months of negotiation with the White House and other Democrats, announced that he would not support the $1.85 trillion draft of the BBB over concerns about continually-rising inflation. In the equally-divided Senate, where all 50 Republicans opposed the bill, the announcement struck a killing blow to the BBB.
