‘It’s All of Our Fault’ Manchin Says of Debt, Calls for Bipartisan Action

Suggests solution is to withhold lawmakers’ pay when the budget is overdue

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 4, 2022. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) broke with the Democrat party line by calling for future spending cuts along with an increase to the nation’s debt ceiling.

“The American people have had enough of the accounting gimmicks and budgetary games that we play in Congress, and it’s got to stop,” Manchin said, decrying the $31.4 trillion national debt in a Senate floor speech on March 2.