Manchin has expressed interest in passing a bill through the filibuster-proof reconciliation process that would raise taxes, reduce the deficit, cut prescription drug costs, and fund energy and climate measures, even though some Democrats fear the West Virginia centrist is running out the clock. He also began leading bipartisan talks on energy over the last two weeks, prompting worries among Democrats that he’s losing interest in a party-line bill to pass major climate policies.

But sources close to Manchin believe Democrats are making an error by passively waiting for him to craft his own detailed legislation, which many in the party have grumbled he should do ever since he rejected Biden’s Build Back Better plan in December.

People familiar with Manchin’s thinking say he has repeatedly laid out his demands in public, but that he’s unlikely to put pen to paper and write a reconciliation bill — that’s a job for Democratic leaders.

“The best approach would be for the White House to come up with a plan, get his approval and then hand it off to Schumer and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi to keep everybody in line,” said one person familiar with Manchin’s thinking, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s not going to write a partisan bill. That’s not who he is.”