Centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has no intention of changing his party affiliation — at least for now, he said Sunday.
Manchin’s comments on CBS’s Face the Nation came after fellow centrist Senator Kirsten Sinema sent shock waves through Congress, announcing she was leaving the Democratic Party and listing herself as an independent. .
Manchin told host Margaret Brennan, “I’ll let you know later what I decide to do, but right now I have no intention of changing anything.” Cinema.
“Do you see the benefit of being independent, of being unconnected in this environment?” @margbrennan asks Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
Manchin says, “I’ll let you know later what I decide to do, but right now I have no intention of changing anything.” pic.twitter.com/smbJCuTpl1
– Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 18, 2022
On December 6, Sinema announced his defection after Democratic Georgia incumbent Raphael Warnock fended off a challenge to his seat, a result that left the party thinking it had a clear one-seat majority in the Senate.
Like Sinema, Manchin has at times snubbed Joe Biden’s White House ambitions and other progressives, sometimes voting against his party’s interests in a chamber that has split 50-50 during the past two years. , is breaking ties with Vice President Kamala Harris in favor of the Democrats. Notably, in July, the founder of a millionaire coal-trading company killed sweeping climate change legislation opposed by Republicans before helping push through a less ambitious bill.
Manchin recently tried to force through legislation that would undermine environmental protections by fast-tracking energy projects, but his attempt to save his so-called “dirty deal”—that one time before—failed. Was – failed.
Manchin spent some of his Sunday appearance on Brennan’s show criticizing the concept of congressional partisanship.
“I really don’t put a lot of legitimacy into identifying as a Republican or a Democrat,” Manchin said. “I guess we’re all Americans.”
But then he took aim at Republicans, who didn’t support his effort to salvage his dirty deal by attaching it to the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual appropriations bill.
Manchin told Brennan on Sunday, “Only seven Republicans voted for something that all 50 previously supported.” “So you tell me whether it is about policy or about politics.”
The effect of Sinema’s abandonment of the Democratic Party remains to be seen. She has said she does not intend to caucus with Republicans, which could scuttle her hopes of overcoming Democrats’ majority with support from other independents such as Bernie Sanders and Angus King.
Sinema and Manchin of Arizona are up for re-election in 2024, when the next presidential race is held. Manchin’s state is conservative, having favored the Republican candidate in the last four presidential elections.
