The White House contacted Manchin after Harris’ interviews in West Virginia

The White House contacted Manchin after Harris’ interviews in West Virginia

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The disclosure comes after Harris’ apparent move to put pressure on Manchin frustrated the conservative Democrat, something he made clear over the weekend.

The source declined to say what the White House said to Manchin or who in the White House called him, but the call underscores the delicate balance that President Joe Biden faces as he and Democrats try to maintain a narrow Senate majority to pass a Covid’s comprehensive relief plan – and any other legislation this year.

The Senate’s 50/50 party division gives the White House little room for error and Manchin will be an important vote in any package.

“We are in touch with Senator Manchin, as we have been doing for many weeks, and we will continue to move forward,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.

“He is not only a key partner of the president and the White House in this package, but he is also on his agenda and we will continue to keep in close contact with him,” she added.

Psaki did not say who at the White House had spoken to Manchin after his comments on Harris’ interviews. Asked specifically whether Biden himself had spoken to the senator, Psaki objected, saying that only the White House had contacted him.

Manchin seemed to express frustration at a television interview that Harris recently gave in his home state to promote the American Rescue Plan last week.

In an interview with CNN affiliate WSAZ in West Virginia, Manchin was angered by Harris’s interview with the same station that occurred on Thursday, suggesting that the government did not warn him.

“I saw it. I couldn’t believe it. Nobody called me,” he said. “We will try to find a bipartisan way forward. I think we need to, but we need to work together. This is not a way of working together, which has been done.”

With new urgency, Biden presents his case to the American people in favor of Covid-19

On Thursday, Harris promoted Covid’s $ 1.9 trillion aid plan in interviews with television stations in West Virginia and Arizona – states that house Democrats whose votes may be key to approving Covid’s aid, including Manchin in West Virginia and Senator Kyrsten Sinema, along with Senator Mark Kelly, who will be re-elected in the state in 2022, Arizona.

In an interview with WSAZ on Thursday, Harris said she and Biden believe it is important to “work with a sense of urgency” to deal with public health and the economic crisis. The vice president praised the package, saying it is “about opening schools in a safe way again, getting support for small businesses, getting help for families”.

Harris also spoke about the economic situation in the West Virginia coal industry.

“All skilled workers who are in the coal industry and transferring these skills to what we need to do in terms of dealing with the recovery of abandoned landmines; what we need to do to plug oil and gas well spills; and, transfer them important skills for work that has not yet been done and that needs to be done, “she said.

Psaki declined to say on Monday whether Harris’s interview was designed specifically to pressure Manchin.

“Our focus is on communicating to the American people how the American rescue plan can help put food on the table, can help ensure that we can put vaccines in Americans’ arms and help send children back to school,” she said. “This is our overarching goal with all the communications we do.”

This story has been updated with comments from the White House.

Kevin Liptak and Daniella Diaz of CNN contributed to this report.

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