The outreach comes after Harris’s apparent attempt to put pressure on Manchin frustrated the Conservative Democrat, something he made clear over the weekend.
The split of the 50-50 party in the Senate gives the White House little room for error and Manchin will be an important vote on any package.
“We have been in touch with Sen. Manchin, as we have been doing for many weeks and will continue to move forward,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.
“He is not only an important partner for the President and the White House in this package, but also on his agenda and we will remain in close contact with him,” she added.
Psaki did not say who spoke to Manchin in the White House following his comments about Harris’ interviews. Asked if Biden himself had spoken to the senator, Psaki said only the White House was in contact.
Manchin appears to be expressing frustration over a television interview Harris recently conducted in his home country to advance the U.S. rescue plan last week.
In an interview with CNN subsidiary WSAZ in West Virginia, Manchin sprinkled on Harris’ interview with the same station that took place Thursday, indicating that the government is not giving him a head start.
“I saw it. I could not believe it. No one called me,” he said. “We’re going to try to find a dual path forward. I think we have to, but we have to work together. It’s not a way of working together, that’s done.”
On Thursday, Harris promoted the $ 1.9 billion Covid relief plan in interviews with television stations in West Virginia and Arizona – home to Democrats whose voices could be critical to easing Covid relief, including Manchin in West Virginia and Senator Kyrsten Cinema, along with Senator Mark Kelly, who will be re-elected in Arizona in 2022.
Harris also spoke about the economic situation in the West Virginia coal industry.
“All the skilled workers who work in the coal industry and transfer the skills to what we need to do regarding the recovery of abandoned landmines; what we need to do to stop leaks from oil and gas wells; and the transfer thereof are important skills for the work that still needs to be done that needs to be done, ‘she said.
Psaki declined to say Monday whether Harris’s interview was specifically designed to put pressure on Manchin.
“Our focus is to communicate with the American people about how the American rescue plan can help put food on the table, help get vaccines into the arms of Americans, and send children back to school,” she said. “It’s our overarching goal with all the communication we do.”
This story has been updated with comments from the White House.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.