Manchin denies he opposes Democratic spending bill, says he’ll wait until August to decide

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., pushed back Friday on reports that he had ruled out including tax hikes and climate change subsidies within the Democrats’ party-line spending bill, saying he would wait until July inflation numbers are out next month to decide. 

Manchin told West Virginia MetroNews that claims he had walked away from the negotiating table were widely overblown. The centrist Democrat claimed to only have expressed caution about moving forward with the package before having a clear picture of inflation and the national economy. 

“I said can we just wait until the inflation figures come out [for] July, until we know if the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates,” said Manchin. “Then make the decision on what we can do and how much we can do.”

MANCHIN SAYS HE WON’T SUPPORT CLIMATE, TAX PROVISIONS IN SWEEPING DEMOCRATIC BILL 

Manchin said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., took that request as an indication that he would not support raising taxes or tackling climate change. He further claimed that leaks to the media saying as much were an attempt to pressure him into capitulating. 

“I guess they just tried to put pressure on me,” said Manchin. “But they’ve been doing that for over a year now, it doesn’t make any sense at all.” 

The West Virginia Democrat has been negotiating privately with Schumer over the size and scale of the spending package, which can only pass via a party-line process known as budget reconciliation. Since the Senate is split 50-50 between both parties, Manchin’s support is key to success. 

Democrats faced that reality last year when Manchin refused to sign on to a $1.75 trillion reconciliation bill, named “Build Back Better,” over fears it would exacerbate inflation. 

“Inflation is wreaking havoc on everybody’s…