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By Isabel van Brugen
News Reporter
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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Monday morning accused Senator Joe Manchin of an "egregious breach" of President Joe Biden's trust, after he announced Sunday that he would not vote in favor of the president's Build Back Better Act.
"I think what Senator Manchin did yesterday represents such an egregious breach of the trust of the president," Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, told MSNBC's Morning Joe. She was referring to Manchin's refusal to back Biden's ambitious $1.75 trillion social and climate spending package.
Her remarks came after Manchin said during a Sunday appearance on Fox News that he "cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation."
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"I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there," Manchin said, citing concerns over inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic and the national debt.
Ocasio-Cortez said Monday that the Democratic leadership needed "to step up, and I think that we can do that. I do not believe that the situation is beyond repair. But it's going to take a different kind of thinking to get out of it than it did to get into it."
"It's really about time that we start to get serious about governing. As well as leaning on the president's executive authority, which I do not believe has been used to the fullest extent that the American people deserve," she added.
Manchin's support had been critical because Democrats maintain a razor-thin majority in the Senate, holding 50 out of 100 seats, leaving Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking vote.
The White House on Sunday also issued a scathing statement after Manchin reversed course and firmly declined to vote in favor of Biden's legislation.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Manchin's rejection of Biden's legislation was "at odds" with his discussions with the Biden administration just days earlier.
Psaki said the West Virginia senator's comments represented a "sudden and inexplicable" reversal in his position, and "a breach of his commitments" to the president and his colleagues in the House and Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday morning pledged to bring the Build Back Better Act to the floor for a vote despite Manchin's remarks.
"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 wrote in a letter to colleagues. "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."
Newsweek has reached out to Manchin's office and the White House for comment.
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