Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) got into a heated argument behind closed doors on Wednesday at lunch for Senate committee chairs.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons (Del.) the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, and Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.), chairman of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, were in the room at the time and told Axios that Manchin used a raised-fist goose egg to tell Sanders he can live without any of President Biden’s $3.5 trillion social spending plan. Democrats are hoping to pass the bill through reconciliation and need all 50 senate Democrats on board.
“Joe said, ‘I’m comfortable with nothing,’ Bernie said, ‘We need to do three-and-a-half [trillion dollars],'”Tester told Axios. ” [Manchin] said ‘I’m comfortable with zero,'” while using his thumb and index finger to form a “zero.”
Sen. Coons also remembered Manchin making the “zero” gesture.
“[Manchin] said, ‘We shouldn’t do it at all,'” Coons recalled. Manchin continued, “this will contribute to inflation. We’ve already passed the American Rescue Plan. We should just pass the infrastructure bill and, you know, pause for six months.”
Despite both men leaving a Monday meeting with their arms around each other, this alleged disagreement being closed doors signals that they could not have been further away from reaching an agreement on a budget reconciliation framework by Friday.
“The truth is both of them are in different spots,” Tester said.
