U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s announcement that he is firmly opposed to President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation has angered Democrats and the White House.

But we begin with the Omicron variant – which now accounts for 73 percent of new infections in the United States. President Biden has outlined new efforts to combat the surge.

CGTN’s Nathan King reports from the White House.

Follow Nathan King on Twitter@nathanking

Joining the discussion:

• Aaron Mate’ is the host of “Pushback with Aaron Mate” on the Grayzone’s digital channel.
• Jadan Horyn is a writer and conservative commentator.
• Melik Abdul is a Republican strategist, writer and political analyst.
• Joseph Williams is the former senior news editor at U.S. News & World Report.

For more:

U.S. mulls reducing COVID quarantine time amid Omicron surge https://t.co/qgEfzKNgwE pic.twitter.com/83rF1BSF5k

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 21, 2021

EXCLUSIVE: “I think the stakes are too high for this to be in any way about any specific individual,” @VP Kamala Harris says about Joe Manchin's decision to vote NO on Build Back Better: “Let's get the job done.”

Catch more of @margbrennan's interview tonight on @CBSEveningNews pic.twitter.com/926pJwOChz

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) December 20, 2021

Monthly child tax credit payments are set to expire at the end of this month—and perhaps, forever, now that Senator Joe Manchin said he wouldn’t vote for the Build Back Better Act https://t.co/kcAqczQsls

— Bloomberg (@business) December 21, 2021