Talks between Manchin and Biden at standstill as Build Back Better likely stalled until next year

By Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Phil Mattingly, CNN

Updated 8:23 PM ET, Wed December 15, 2021

(CNN)Senate Democrats are expected to punt consideration of the cornerstone element of President Joe Biden's agenda into next year after private conversations between Biden and the key Democratic holdout made clear the bill would not have the votes to pass this month.

Critical talks between Biden and West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, the Senate's most important swing vote, over how to pass a $1.75 trillion economic and climate package remain far from any resolution on a series of issues, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the discussions.

The impasse, even as talks are expected to continue, marks the clearest sign yet that Democrats will be forced to delay a Senate vote until at least 2022 despite an effort by leadership to approve the bill before Christmas.

A source briefed on the conversations tells CNN that talks between Manchin and Biden over the bill, known as Build Back Better, are "very far apart." Given the state of the talks between the influential moderate senator and the President, sources familiar with the matter say Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is very likely to punt the bill into 2022.

One of the most pivotal issues holding up progress is the child tax credit, a major Democratic Party priority that delivers aid to families and is key to the Biden administration's effort to reduce child poverty. Manchin wants to cut the expanded child tax credit from the bill, with a source telling CNN that he wants to "zero it out."

There are many reasons that Senate Democrats are not ready to vote to pass the Build Back Better legislation in addition to the holdup with Manchin. The legislative text is not yet finalized, a parliamentary review of the bill to ensure Democrats can pass it on a party-line vote is not complete and other policy issues have yet to be resolved, including how to deal with a controversial state and local tax deduction. Enter your email to sign up for CNN’s “What Matters” Newsletter.

But cutting the child tax credit is a nonstarter for Biden, sources note, and that's been the central issue of disagreement, though there are several others outstanding, in the discussions between the two over the last few days.

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