Vice President Kamala Harris said the “stakes are too high” to give up on passing President Biden’s $1.75 trillion social welfare and climate bill after it was derailed in the Senate.
Ms. Harris, who holds the tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 split Senate, said the White House is working to hammer out a compromise that will overcome opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, and Republicans.
“I am not giving up, the president is not giving up, and quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Ms. Harris said on CBS “Face The Nation.”
Ms. Harris said there is “room for discussion” on where the legislation goes from here, and she said the discussion is bigger than Mr. Manchin, who single-handedly sunk the bill and infuriated Democratic Party leaders and liberal activists.
The bill, dubbed the Build Back Better Act, was whittled down from the original $3.5 trillion wishlist of liberal programs to satisfy Mr. Manchin and other Democratic holdouts. The $1.75 trillion package still included universal preschool, federally-subsidized child care, an extension of direct monthly payments to parents and tax credits to buy electric cars and build renewable energy power plants.
“The stakes are so high, and we can’t afford in this moment of time when we have an opportunity to do something so substantial in terms of public policy in America, to literally help families, I refuse to get caught up in what might be the personal politics,” Ms. Harris said.
She said Americans want the administration to “fix things.”
Mr. Manchin has aired concerns about the size and scope of the massive spending bill and the impact it could have on inflation.
Ms. Harris said there is “room for discussion” in the ongoing negotiations and said leading economists have said the proposal will bolster the economy.
