Manchin Comes Out against Biden Infrastructure Bill
Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said he would oppose raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, a key component of the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill, in a radio interview with West Virginia’s Metro News.
“As the bill exists today, it needs to be changed,” Manchin told host Hoppy Kercheval. The senator added that he could support raising the corporate tax rate to 25 percent, but not to 28 percent as envisioned in the bill, because it would hurt the country’s market competitiveness.
“It’s more than just me, Hoppy,” Manchin said. “There’s six or seven other Democrats who feel very strongly about this. We have to be competitive, and we’re not going to throw caution to the wind.”
Manchin emphasized that the bill would not move forward without his support. With 50 Senate seats and the vice presidency, Democrats need the support of all their senators in order to pass legislation.
“If I don’t vote to get on it, it’s not going anywhere,” Manchin said.
Several House Democrats, including Representatives Tom Suozzi of New York and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, told Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter last week that they could not sign the infrastructure bill unless it removes caps on the state- and local-tax deduction. The SALT deduction was capped at $10,000 in the Trump administration’s 2017 tax bill.
However, other Democrats in the group told Punchbowl News on Monday that they may be unable to avoid voting for the package.
