Mitch McConnell Doubts Biden Can Pass Infrastructure Without GOP as Manchin Dissents

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) believes that President Joe Biden will not pass his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan without Republican support as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) remains a potential Democratic roadblock.

McConnell blasted Biden for proposing a tax hike to pay for his infrastructure plan and suggested that the president could have a rough road ahead during an interview with Kentucky Educational Television that aired on Sunday.

On Monday, Biden held a one-on-one meeting with Manchin, a moderate critical of his spending proposals and a host of other Democratic bills. Democrats would need to be united for the proposal to pass without Republican support since the upper chamber is split evenly, with Vice President Kamala Harris having the power to break ties.

"That's not going to get any Republican support in my conference, from Susan Collins to Ted Cruz. No way," McConnell said. "And the Democrats... don't have a huge margin to play with. They've got a 50/50 Senate, which means absolutely every single one of them has got to agree."

"[Manchin has] been quite vocal about this, he thinks it's way overdone as well," added McConnell. "I think they'll see if they can pass this thing by getting everybody in line. If they can't, then we're open to talk about infrastructure and how to pay for it."

McConnell and Biden appear to be at least $1.3 trillion apart in terms of a price cap, with the minority leader suggesting that the "proper price tag" of any infrastructure proposal should be between $600 billion and $800 billion.

Manchin told reporters that he was "uncomfortable" with the price tag of Biden's plan before the president outlined it during a joint session of Congress last month. He described a $568 billion Republican counterproposal as "a good start" to negotiations.

In addition to expressing doubts over the size of the American Jobs Plan, Manchin has criticized the tax hikes that Biden hopes will pay for the proposal, insisting that the corporate tax rate should rise to 25 percent instead of the 28 percent proposed by the president.

He has also indicated reluctance over using the budget reconciliation process to pass the plan—the only pathway for Democrats to pass legislation without the support of at least 10 Senate Republicans.

Although details of his Monday meeting with Biden were sparse, the senator told NBC affiliate WSAZ that their talk had been "productive and thorough."

"[Biden] put his plan out there," Manchin added in remarks to reporters outside the Capitol on Monday. "And I think in good faith, we start working and finding out through a process where it goes into the committee, comes to the floor with amendments and see what we end up with."

"He just wants to get things accomplished," he added. "I'm telling you, in his heart of hearts, he's all about let's be fair and move this country forward."

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.