After Devastating Inflation Report, Joe Manchin Takes Blowtorch To Dems’ Plans For More Spending

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Congress needs to get serious about reducing its spending plans on Wednesday after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported higher than expected inflation in June.

“For more than a year, leaders in Washington have ignored the serious concerns raised by myself and others about the rising cost of inflation. No matter what spending aspirations some in Congress may have, it is clear to anyone who visits a grocery store or a gas station that we cannot add any more fuel to this inflation fire,” Manchin said in a statement.

The CPI report measured 9.1% for June, the highest rate in 40 years and a “catastrophic” development for everyday Americans, according to previous comments that E.J. Antoni, a Heritage Foundation economist, made to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Manchin is considered a crucial vote for any potential budget reconciliation bill, and so his opposition to further spending comes as a blow to President Joe Biden’s plans to revive parts of his Build Back Better agenda, the Hill reported.

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The West Virginia senator single-handedly shut down Democrats’ $2 trillion, 10-year social and environmental bill in December, and has since been negotiating with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on a bill about half that size, The Associated Press reported.

Now, once again, Manchin is looking for ways to reduce his fellow Democrats’ proposed spending.

“I’m going to make sure that I have every input on scrubbing everything humanly possible that could be considered inflammatory,” Manchin told reporters Wednesday.

When asked about Manchin’s comments, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts disputed the claim that a higher budget reconciliation bill would likely have an inflationary effect, the Hill reported. Warren’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for clarification.

Neither the White House nor Manchin immediately responded to the DCNF’s request for comment.