Schumer plans vote on Build Back Better bill despite Manchin’s opposition

"Senators should be aware that the Senate will, in fact, consider the Build Back Better Act, very early in the new year so that every Member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television," Schumer declared in a statement to Democrats on Monday.

"We are going to vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act — and we will keep voting on it until we get something done," he vowed.

Schumer also mentioned that senators would consider "voting rights" legislation as early as the first week when the Senate returns in January

According to Reuters, Schumer wrote to his colleagues that "the Senate will, in fact, consider the Build Back Better Act, very early in the new year so that every member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television."

Manchin, however, and much to his fellow Democrats' dismay, remains steadfast in his opposition to the Build Back Better bill, telling the media recently:

"I knew where they were and I knew what they could and could not do. I knew that we could not change, it was never going to change."

The bill in its current form is packed full of provisions intended to "expand the social safety net and tackle climate change," says Reuters, which then goes on to state that "many Democrats have said the bill is essential to the party's chances in the Nov. 8, 2022, midterm elections."

"No one can really be promised a Manchin vote," progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said in a TV appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki also took aim at Manchin in a blistering statement, claiming he blindsided President Joe Biden on the matter.