Joe Manchin: Not 'Fair' for Build Back Better Act to Rely on Budget Gimmicks

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Monday it is not “fair” for the $4.9 trillion Build Back Better Act to rely on budget gimmicks to mask the cost of the legislation.

Manchin, the pivotal swing vote on the Build Back Better Act, said the legislation needs drastic change to gain his support. He emphasized that the legislation should not use arbitrary policy sunsets on many large spending programs to make the bill appear less expensive.

“I don’t think that’s a fair evaluation of saying we are going to spend X amount of dollars but then we are going to have to depend on coming back and finding more money,” Manchin said ahead of a planned meeting with President Joe Biden:

In a big warning sign, Manchin said BBB shouldn’t rely on temporary spending that could become permanent. “I don’t think that’s a fair evaluation of saying we are going to spend X amount of dollars but then we are going to have to depend on coming back and finding more money” pic.twitter.com/kxfZfL5N6H

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 13, 2021

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said the legislation would cost $4.9 trillion over ten years and would add $3 trillion to the deficit if many of its programs were made permanent. Democrats used these temporary sunsets to have the bill comply with the Senate’s budgetary reconciliation rules, which allow the Senate to pass reconciliation bills, such as the Build Back Better Act, with only a simple majority in the Senate.

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks about about the third plank of his Build Back Better economic recovery plan for working families, on July 21, 2020, in New Castle, Delaware. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images).

Manchin said the CBO report was “sobering,” and he remained concerned about how the bill might impact inflation.

The expanded child tax credit (CTC), in the House-passed version, would only cost $185 billion, as it would expire after 2022. However, if the CTC was extended out ten years, it would cost $1.597 trillion.

Other significant costs with sunsets include:

• Child care and preschool funding; the provision would cost $752 billion if it were made permanent instead of ending after 2027
• The increased state and local tax (SALT) deduction would cost $752 billion if the bill were to remove limits on the deduction after 2025
• Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies would cost $220 billion instead of $74 billion if ACA subsidies were made permanent instead of expiring after 2025 and 2026
• The increased earned income tax credit (EITC) would cost $135 billion instead of $13 if were made permanent instead of ending after 2022.

Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) said the Build Back Better Act would “bankrupt the economy” if the legislation became law.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.