Democrats Say It?s Time To ?Cut A Deal? And Salvage Build Back Better

Politics Reporter, HuffPostSenior Reporter, HuffPostWASHINGTON — With much of their agenda stalled, Democrats vowed to pick up the pieces of their broken Build Back Better bill and figure out what they can pass, even if that means drastically cutting the size and scope of the legislation’s ambitious social spending and climate programs.“What we need to do now is to cut a deal — a principled deal — that spends whatever money we do spend, [and] spends it wisely,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said Tuesday, citing broader agreement within the caucus on provisions intended to fight climate change. “We know what Sen. Manchin is against, we just need to know what he’s for.”House Democrats, back this week from their holiday break, vowed to pass the bill in some form — though lawmakers did not have any clear idea of what changes they needed to make.“We’re gonna build back something,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) told HuffPost. “We know what Sen. Manchin is against, we just need to know what he’s for.” Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and one of the main authors of the House version of Build Back Better, also said Manchin needs to tell his fellow Democrats what he’ll support.