The case for why BBB is dead — and for why it might not be

Some Democrats think Manchin’s Sunday bombshell was a play for leverage. We’re not sure why he’d need more leverage when he already holds all the cards, but let’s play this out.

Democrats will note that Manchin as recently as a few days ago appeared to be willing to swallow a $1.75 trillion package. It was some of the provisions in the legislation and the way his colleagues scored the overall bill that repelled him. He dismissed plans to “sunset” programs after a few years — as a way to save money on paper and pack more into BBB — as budget gimmickry, hiding BBB’s true price tag.

In theory, Democrats could alleviate that concern by ditching this entire set-up and focusing instead on funding a few programs for a full decade. That wouldn’t be entirely unheard of. As recently as a few months ago, House Democrats, including Speaker NANCY PELOSI, were advocating for fewer programs extended for longer time periods — a position New Democrat Coalition leader SUZAN DELBENE (D-Wash.) reiterated in a statement Sunday night, which our Nicholas Wu noted that White House chief of staff RON KLAIN retweeted.