Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. is increasing pressure on moderate Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin, W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, Ariz., to sink President Biden's Build Back Better (BBB) spending plan.
McConnell addressed the issue Wednesday during an interview on the "Greg Dunker Show," a radio program of local news media West Kentucky Star (WKYX), according to their news section.
"If the Democrats in the Senate, all 50 of them, fall in line, they can pass it. If any one of them isn't there in a 50-50 Senate, it will be defeated," McConnell told Dunker. "The two Senate Democrats who are resisting - Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona - we'll see how strong they are. They could kill the whole thing, either one of them."
Senate Democrats have already made extensive changes throughout in response to the pairs' concerns with the plan, including eliminating tax hikes, expanding Medicare, and reducing the top-line $3.5 trillion figure.
Despite the changes, Manchin has recently made clear that he's not yet ready to support the spending bill.
"I have a lot of concerns, let's put it that way," Manchin said to Fox News last week. "They're working off the House bill. That's not going to be the bill I work off of."
McConnell's latest comments re-emphasize the importance the pair, especially Manchin, have in what happens to the spending bill.
"I think we all know there are two Democratic senators that are going to be able to write this bill. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema will determine what the bill looks like," McConnell told reporters according to The Hill.
McConnell has a reason for confidence that Manchin will join the Republican caucus come time to vote, as the senator from West Virginia has sounded the alarm on rising inflation concerns.
"Throughout the last three months, I have been straightforward about my concerns that I will not support a reconciliation package that expands social programs and irresponsibly adds to our nearly $29 trillion in national debt that no one else seems to care about. Nor will I support a package that risks hurting American families suffering from historic inflation," Manchin stated at a press conference earlier this month.
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