Biden’s dilemma: Satisfying Manchin risks losing other Dems

By MATTHEW DALY and LISA MASCARO
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s Washington’s enduring question: What does Joe Manchin want? But increasingly the answer is crystal clear. The conservative West Virginia Democrat wants to dismantle President Joe Biden’s climate change strategies and proposed social services expansion in ways that are simply unacceptable for most in his party. The question now becomes less about what Manchin wants and more about whether Biden can bring him, the party’s other centrist lawmakers and its progressives to middle ground. The president will need Manchin and the others to agree if he has any hopes of salvaging his once sweeping $3.5 trillion proposal. Biden meets Tuesday with lawmakers.