Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on July 7 that Republicans will block the passage of a bill to increase U.S. competitiveness with China if Democrats do not drop efforts to revive the Build Back Better (BBB) social spending package.
In December 2021, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) effectively killed the $1.75 trillion BBB package when he said he would not vote for it over continuing concerns about inflation. Since then, some Democrats have worked behind the scenes to revive the package.
These efforts have picked up steam recently, winning the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who has worked to negotiate a smaller package focused mostly on climate policy with Manchin….