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Senators Joe Manchin and Bernie Sanders are fighting over the Democrats’ multibillion dollar reconciliation package.
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President Biden reportedly joked that bringing the two senators together in one room would be almost like “homicide,” according to CNN.
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Sanders said on Friday that he was unlikely to meet Manchin in person because “this is not a movie.”
In a virtual meeting with House Democrats, President Joe Biden joked that sitting the senses Joe Manchin and Bernie Sanders in the same room would be almost like “homicide,” according to CNN.
Biden discussed the Manchin-Sanders feud over the size and scope of Democrats’ multibillion-dollar “human infrastructure” package during a private conference call earlier this week, CNN reported.
The “homicide” joke was in response to Representative Ro Khanna’s suggestion that the two senators meet to try to resolve their differences over spending plans, according to CNN.
Manchin and Sanders are currently separated by billions of billions of dollars on their price tags. Manchin wants a $ 1.5 trillion measure, but has reportedly said he won’t rule out going up to $ 2.2 trillion. With the progressive wing of the party, Sanders is pushing for a price tag of $ 3.5 trillion.
Manchin berated House Democrats for delaying the bipartisan $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed in the Senate in August. The vote was ultimately withdrawn after Sanders and other progressives urged House Democrats to vote against a stand-alone infrastructure bill until the social spending bill was passed as well.
As Democratic internal struggles over the spending bill continue, reports indicate tensions are mounting between the two senators.
Manchin said on Wednesday that Sanders wanted a “rights society”.
During a heated press conference on Wednesday, Insider reported that Sanders retaliated by accusing Manchin and moderate Democratic Senator Krysten Sinema of “sabotage.”
Sanders made it clear on Friday that he was unwilling to negotiate face-to-face with Manchin and Sinema to discuss their differences over the social spending bill. He told reporters on Capitol Hill, “It’s not a movie. I don’t know if you’re a movie writer. It’s not a movie.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
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