AOC goes after Manchin on voting reform, Build Back Better
Ocasio-Cortez says she is 'mad' and accused Democratic leadership of 'coddling' Manchin's 'ego'
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New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went after West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin for his refusal to support voting rights reform or the president’s Build Back Better package.
"We passed all $40 billion," Ocasio-Cortez told onlookers at a town hall Thursday in reference to funding dedicated to the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). "We got it. We passed in the House, and he’s sitting on it.
"And our babies are sleeping in bubble jackets in NYCHA with no heat and no boilers because of that. So I’m mad," she added.
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 20: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a press conference urging the inclusion of the Civilian Climate Corps. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)
SEN. JOE MANCHIN SAYS HE'S OPEN TO A NEW VERSION OF BIDEN'S BUILD BACK BETTER AGENDA
The congresswoman’s frustration didn’t end with Manchin.
Ocasio-Cortez took aim at not only leaders of the Democratic Party but with President Biden and accused the top democrats of "coddling" Manchin’s "ego".
"If it hasn't worked in two years why are we going to continue doing that when there's an election this November?" she questioned.
Manchin made waves last year after he opposed Biden’s $3.5 trillion social spending package largely because of its hefty price tag.
FUMING AOC SAYS LEGISLATION WAS ALREADY THE 'JOE MANCHIN BUILD BACK BETTER ACT'
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a centrist Democrat vital to the fate of President Joe Biden's $3.5 government overhaul, speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)
Ocasio-Cortez has long condemned the moderate democrat's impediment of not only the spending bill but voting rights reform, and accused him of standing in the way of "basic civil rights."
"This idea that one person gets to go on television and provide weak arguments as to why they are blocking the basic civil rights of our Americans and journalists don't push back, and our party leadership doesn't push back, and the president doesn't push back forcefully – that makes me mad," she continued. "We are stripping one essential function of citizenship because one Democratic senator from West Virginia doesn’t think it’s important enough. And that’s not acceptable."
Manchin voted against the For the People Act because he claimed voting reform had become overly politicized.
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The West Virginia Democrat has also opposed reforming the filibuster, which is a congressional tool that requires a 60-vote threshold in order to avoid the legislation clog.
Earlier this month Manchin said he would support a more narrowed down Build Back Better package with a substantially smaller price tag that focuses on climate change, prescription drug prices and deficit reduction.