The progressive leader discusses her last call with Joe Manchin, her frustration with the idea that “the Squad” and Bernie Sanders were right and she was wrong, and her determination to get a bill through… somehow.
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Manchin himself called Jayapal to discuss his decision on Sunday, a conversation she was only willing to share her half of. It did not go well.
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Also Tuesday, Jayapal reached out to Manchin to try to reopen a dialogue. She asked him to clarify what exactly he supported in the broad “framework” that Democrats thought they had a deal on last summer, and what he opposed. A day later, she has still not heard back.
Reaching out to Manchin is what makes Jayapal a formidable, unpredictable (in a good way) progressive leader. When we spoke yesterday, she genuinely sounded like she was at her wit’s end with him, telling me flatly, “I thought I could rely on his word, and I obviously couldn’t,” adding, “I think he just doesn’t want to do it.” Nevertheless, she then put the ball in his court, calling Manchin and telling The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, “We all understand that we need 50 votes, and he’s our 50th vote.”
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People want to put the blame on us, but why did it get to us? Progressive senators decided to let it through! It’s not like the CPC trusted Manchin, and the Squad and Bernie didn’t—we all never trusted Manchin! The question was: What was going to be the most compelling way to keep him at the table? It’s a legitimate perspective, to think holding up BIF would have kept him at the table—but I don’t think it would have. Remember, the BIF was [Senator Kyrsten] Sinema’s bill—it wasn’t Manchin’s. And I think it got him committed, to the president, to the framework. That only happened because the CPC held the line. I believe he was looking for a way to get out of it.