Manchin says he's 'not a roadblock' for Biden's priorities as he pushes for slimmed-down infrastructure bill
CNN
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said Sunday that he's not a "roadblock" for President Joe Biden's legislative agenda, even as he uses his key position in the Senate to push against some aspects of Biden's massive infrastructure proposal.
"I'm not a roadblock at all," Manchin, a moderate from West Virginia, told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" when asked about those in his party who view him as a challenge to accomplishing some of the President's agenda. Manchin wields significant influence in the Senate as a result of his party's slim majority. But as he sought to dismiss criticism from members of his party, Manchin told Bash that he supports a "more targeted" version of Biden's roughly $2 trillion infrastructure plan, flexing his potential veto power in the negotiations over the package. Biden's proposal includes less traditional infrastructure items, like $400 billion to bolster caregiving for aging Americans and those with disabilities.The US began pulling military equipment and additional personnel out of Niger on Friday after waiting months for the ruling military junta to approve US military flights into the country, two sources familiar with the matter said Saturday, ahead of a September 15 withdrawal deadline agreed to by the two countries.
The judge who oversaw Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in New York on Friday informed the former president’s defense team and prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office that a comment was posted on the New York State Unified Court Systems’ public Facebook page last week by a poster who claimed to be a cousin of a juror, saying that Trump would be convicted.