In a webinar on Wednesday, Manchin also expressed concern with the nation’s debt level and touted the importance of infrastructure.

He told American Council for Capital Formation President and CEO Mark Bloomfield that the U.S. “is closing quickly on $28 trillion in national debt. … We are going to have to pay for whatever we do.”

“Sooner or later, we’ve got to pay,” Manchin added, “Nobody likes taxes, I know that. Well, if you like your water and your sewer and your road and everything you receive and the food and all the amenities you have in life, maybe you better figure out how we’re going to be able to do it.”

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), another centrist, this week warned that lawmakers need to be careful about raising taxes when the real unemployment rate is estimated to be as high as 10 percent.

“I think there are some loopholes in the code that could be cut out. I don’t know that you want to do it right now,” he said.