Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced in early November that he would not be seeking reelection after this current term.
Having served in the Senate since winning a special election in 2010, Manchin revealed he would be “traveling the country and speaking out” in an effort to reach Americans in the middle and unify them together.
“After months of deliberation with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia. I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for reelection to the United States Senate,” Manchin said in his video in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “But, what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there’s an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”
Over the course of Manchin’s tenure in office, he has been no stranger to bucking the agenda of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
Here are five moments from this year in which Manchin bucked the party line.
To the West Virginians who have put their trust in me and fought side by side to make our state better – it has been an honor of my life to serve you. Thank you. My statement on my political future: pic.twitter.com/dz8JuXAyTL
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) November 9, 2023
Manchin went against party lines when he joined several Republicans and Democrats to oppose Biden’s nomination of Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su to replace former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
Su has served as the acting secretary of Labor since Walsh left to take over the National Hockey League Players Association.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) sent a letter to U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro questioning the legality of Su serving in an acting role. Under the Vacancies Act of 1988, a person can serve in an acting role for a maximum of 210 days. To date, Su has served as Acting Labor Secretary for more than 210 days.
“I believe the person leading the U.S. Department of Labor should have the experience to collaboratively lead both labor and industry to forge compromises acceptable to both parties,” Manchin said in a statement. “While her credentials and qualifications are impressive, I have genuine concerns that Juli Su’s more progressive background prevents her from doing this and for that reason I cannot support her nomination to serve as Secretary of Labor.”
Another moment when Manchin bucked party lines was when he revealed he would be voting no against confirming Gigi Sohn to serve as the Democratic commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Manchin cited her years of “partisan activism, inflammatory statements online, and work with far-left groups,” in a March press release.
“For nearly 100 years, the FCC has been an independent, nonpartisan regulator of all forms of communication in American life, from radio to television to satellite. Unfortunately, over the last several years, it has become increasingly politicized,” Manchin said. “The FCC must focus on issues of critical importance to West Virginian and Americans, such as updating broadband coverage maps, addressing compromised Chinese equipment and products that threaten the security of our communications infrastructure, and ensuring every American has access to affordable Internet services.”
Manchin added that Sohn had “clearly shown” she was not the person for the role.
Sohn withdrew her nomination to join the FCC after Manchin revealed his decision.
In August, Manchin slammed the Biden Administration and partisan lawmakers on the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“While some across both parties and the Administration have chosen to play political games with his important legislation, the IRA included $238 billion in debt reduction, lowered the cost of prescription drug prices for millions of seniors – including more than 400,000 West Virginians on Medicare, capped insulin at $35 for seniors, and secured permanent funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund,” Manchin said in a press statement.
Manchin vouched to “push back” against those who “seek to undermine” the IRA as part of a political agenda.
At the end of November, Manchin and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) joined with Republicans to block Biden’s nominee, Jose Javier Rodriguez from serving as assistant secretary of the Labor Department.
Manchin reportedly cited concerns about Rodriguez’s “political activism and lack of experience,” an aide told The Hill.
Rodriguez served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2016, and then in the state’s Senate from 2016 to 2020.
In May, Manchin tanked the nomination of Jeff Marootian to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Manchin admitted that while he had previously supported Marootian, Biden’s choice for nomination, he had concerns about the office seeking to propose rules to make gas stoves more efficient.
A month later, during an interview on Fox News, Manchin slammed the Biden Administration over efforts to ban gas stoves and labeled the usage of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors as being “crazy.”
Manchin and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) went on to include a bipartisan amendment in the Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) bill that would prevent the Biden Administration from being able to ban gas stoves.
