Sunday shows – Manchin says he won’t vote for $3.5 trillion bill

by The Hill staff - 09/12/21 11:37 AM ET

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is seen near the Senate Chamber as the Senate votes on the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Tuesday, August 10, 2021. — Greg Nash

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Sunday that he will not vote in support of President Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending package this week.

In response, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that Manchin’s position is “not acceptable.”

Multiple guests on the Sunday morning political talk shows also discussed the new federal vaccine mandates for companies with more than 100 employees.

Read The Hill’s complete coverage below.

Manchin says he can’t support Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending plan

By OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN

Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), a key moderate Democrat, said on Sunday that he can’t support President Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending plan.

“We don’t have the need to rush into this and get it done within one week because there’s some deadline we’re meeting or someone’s going to fall through the cracks,” Manchin said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

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Sanders says Manchin not supporting Biden’s spending package is ‘not acceptable’

By OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN

“It’s absolutely not acceptable to me. I don’t think it’s acceptable to the president for the American people, whether the overwhelming majority of the people in the Democratic caucus,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) told host Dana Bush on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

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GOP governor: Biden’s vaccine mandate ‘increases the division’

By OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN

“This is an unprecedented assumption of federal mandate authority that really disrupts and divides the country. It divides our partnership between the federal government and the states, and it increases the division in terms of vaccination when we should all be together trying to increase the vaccination uptake,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said.

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Nebraska governor: States looking into how to ‘attack’ Biden vaccine mandate in court

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) on Sunday said his attorney general and officials from other states are looking into how they can “attack” President Biden’s new vaccine mandate in court.

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Gottlieb says federal vaccine mandate could ‘discourage some vaccination’

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Sunday said the new federal vaccine mandate announced by President Biden could “discourage some vaccination” in the near term.

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Kinzinger says GOP fundraising on vaccine mandates are ‘playing on people’s fear’

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Sunday criticized the Republican Party for fundraising off of vaccine mandates, contending that the strategy is “playing on people’s fear.”

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Surgeon general: Private sector has to do everything it can to tackle the virus

By OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said on Sunday that the private sector has to do its part in order to tackle the current surge of the COVID-19 virus in the wake of President Biden directing private business owners to require vaccinations or weekly testing if they have 100 or more employees.

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Schumer remembers 9/11: ‘Oh my God, this is World War III’

By JORDAN WILLIAMS

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) recalled the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that occurred 20 years ago, saying that at the time, he thought the events would bring about another world conflict.

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Panetta: Taliban hasn’t changed, will provide ‘safe haven for terrorists’

By CAROLINE VAKIL

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Taliban that took over Afghanistan last month has not changed since it last ruled the country and warned that the insurgent group would “continue to provide a safe haven for terrorists.”

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Breyer says term limits would ‘make life easier for me’

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on Sunday said the implementation of term limits for justices on the bench would “make life easier for me,” as Democratic lawmakers are increasingly pushing the 83-year-old justice to step down and allow President Biden to install a liberal replacement.

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Breyer on how he hopes to be remembered: ‘He did his best’

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on Sunday reflected on how he hopes to be remembered for his service on the bench, saying he wants people to think he “did his best.”

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