Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told “Axios on HBO” in an interview published March 8 that he'll block President Joe Biden’s next major legislative initiative unless more effort is made to include Republican voices.
Manchin told the outlet that the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that cleared the Senate this weekend could have won some Republican backing if just a few concessions had been made. Instead, the package was adopted along a strict party-line vote that Republicans denounced as a partisan “wish list” padded with spending unrelated to the pandemic.