Joe: Big-bucks plan not totally dead, Manchin & I will talk in new year

President Biden’s sprawling social spending plan might not be done yet.

After a round of nasty recriminations, Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are signaling they may restart negotiations on the Build Back Better plan in the new year.

Even though Biden ticked off reasons why Manchin was wrong to sink the bill, he also vowed to find a compromise with the West Virginia moderate.

“I’m going to get something done with Sen. Manchin,” Biden said Tuesday.

Aides revealed that the two Democrats had a “cordial” talk by phone Sunday, just hours after Manchin appeared to torpedo the $1.8 trillion bill.

But a raft of senior Democrats issued statements noting that there was still significant agreement between Manchin, Biden and other party leaders over a string of priorities.

They suggested that could open the door to a new round of talks focused on a package that includes a smaller number of priorities with a similar price tag, a plan that could still win Manchin’s backing.

“There’s a lot in that bill that I hope we can still get through,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Monday.

“We cannot walk away from this commitment,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) added.

Manchin himself has not commented on the new proposals. But insiders found it significant that he apparently released his last offer to Biden, which basically cut the Child Tax Credit out of the package but included most other key planks like universal prekindergarten, expanded Medicare and climate change funding.

The White House thought it was still haggling with Manchin over that proposal when it put out a statement that called him out by name for opposing the Child Tax Credit. That enraged Manchin and led him to say he would not support the entire package.

Despite the wide gap and nasty round of verbal attacks, there is nothing preventing the Democrats from coming together on a new Manchin-friendly plan in 2022.

Progressives might approve that blueprint if the Child Tax Credit can be included in some form or perhaps approved as a standalone measure.