White House scrambles to salvage $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill by Christmas – FT

“The White House is scrambling to salvage its plans to pass Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill by the end of the year, with time running out to win over Democratic holdouts worried about excessive spending and persistent inflation.” said Financial Times (FT) during the late Monday news.

Following the update, CNN’s Manu Raju quotes a spokesperson of Democratic senator Joe Manchin as saying, “Senator Manchin and President Biden had a productive conversation this afternoon. They will continue to talk over the coming days.”

“After talking with Biden, Manchin tells a group of us he’s not walking away from talks. And when we asked if he thinks bill can get done this year, he said: ‘anything is possible’ and he’s still ‘engaged’ in talks,” also tweeted CNN’s Manu Raju.

“Manchin, the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, has for months raised concerns about the size and scope of Build Back Better, and has recently tied his objections to rising inflation,” said the FT news.

The Financial Times also said, “Because Democrats control the chamber by the narrowest of margins — 50-50, with vice-president Kamala Harris able to cast the tiebreaking vote — they need the support of all 50 Democratic senators.”

FX reaction

Although the news should have helped the risk barometers, cautious sentiment ahead of the key central bank meetings and the latest spread of the Omicron fears weigh on the mood of late.

Read: Forex Today: Risk-aversion at the start of the week