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Progressive Democrats are going after Senator Joe Manchin for opposing President Biden's Build Back Better bill.
The West Virginia Democrat made the announcement on Fox News Sunday after the Senate had adjourned for the holidays. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Manchin's move an "egregious breach of the trust of the President." The New York Democrat said she and other Dems have "every right to be furious with Joe Manchin." Manchin is a moderate Democrat who has been troubled by the spending in the nearly two-trillion dollar bill, which aims to widen the social safety net and attack climate change. Dems need Manchin's vote in the tightly-divided Senate.
Manchin didn't criticize Biden during Monday's interview, adding that he was always "willing to work and listen and try." But he suggested that White House staff had leaked negative information about him and that he was at his "wits end."
"They know the real reason, what happened. ... It's staff-driven. I understand it's staff. It is not the president. This is staff. And they drove some things, and they put some things out, that were absolutely inexcusable. They know what it is," Manchin said. Manchin didn't indicate what he was referring to during the interview. He was visibly frustrated last week over leaks about negotiations over the bill and the child tax credit, according to The Hill.