Tag: Sen. Joe Manchin

Manchin for Prez in ’24, as a Republican?

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) (above) would not say whether he will run for re-election in 2026, nor would he rule out running for president as a Republican, in his Sunday appearance with Chuck Todd on NBC News’ Meet the Press. His non-answers are as good as a “maybe” to the Capitol Hill punditocracy, which began to speculate that he would switch parties and run against ex-President Trump (and probably Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis) for the 2024 GOP nomination for president.

“I haven’t made a decision on what I’m going to do in 2024,” he said, though he did rule out a run for governor of West Virginia. He’s been there already, Manchin reminded Todd. Manchin did say he would try to do “best what I can do for my country … and my state.”

Next up as a guest on Meet the Press was Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), the moderate who describes herself as “pro-life” yet believes her party is self-inflicting wounds with its hardline anti-abortion position. Mace said Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate must get over their wide gaps on all sort of issues in order to move legislation forward, and used the forum to compliment the West Virginia Democrat’s centrism.

“I sometimes joke [Manchin] is the most popular Republican in the Senate,” Mace told Todd.

Let us know what you think in the Comment section below or in the left column, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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Preserving Democracy

Electoral Count Heads for Reform – Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have endorsed the Electoral Court Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, (per The Washington Post), designed to prevent the sort of scheme that sparked the January 6 Capitol attack. The Senate is expected to easily pass the bill this week, co-sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). It is similar to a House bill passed earlier in the week, and so Congress has ample time before the November midterm elections – and potential flip of the House – to fix the Electoral College Act of 1887.

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Scroll down using the far-right track bar to read pundit Ken Zino’s left-column preview of the now-delayed House Select Committee hearing on the Capitol attacks, “Where’s the Beef?”

Comment in the box in the left or right columns, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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…meanwhile…

(THU 9/29/22)

Senate Votes to Fund Fed to December 16 – The Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government past its midnight Friday fiscal year deadline and on to December 16, The Washington Post reports. The vote was 72-25. The CR includes $12.4 billion for military and diplomatic assistance to Ukraine, and $18.8 billion for domestic disaster recovery efforts.

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Ginni Thomas Testifies – Virginia Thomas “was seen on Thursday appearing to testify behind closed doors” before the House 1/6 panel, NPR reports. The appearance of the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas “stretched” into Thursday afternoon. She offered no comments to reporters afterward. 

House Select Committee member Pete Aguilar (D-CA), declined to comment on her voluntary appearance, but said the panel will later share information Thomas provided that’s relevant to the public. The ninth and likely final public hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol was postponed from Wednesday because of Hurricane Ian’s impending impact on Florida. No make-up date has been announced.

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CR Vote Teed Up for Friday – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has filed cloture, pushing Republicans to keep negotiating to fund the federal government through December 16, ahead of the end of the fiscal year midnight Friday, Punchbowl News reports. Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were still trying to work to set the time for the vote on the continuing resolution. 

Democratic and Republican leaders believe they will reach a deal possibly as early as Thursday, though these CRs historically have pushed up to the deadline – and you can count on senators like Ted Cruz (R-TX) to disrupt the timing as much as possible.

Let the campaigning commence: Whenever the CR is passed, Congress goes on recess as the calendar turns to October, when the Senate is in session only the second and third full weeks, after Columbus Day, and the House is out until after the November 8 midterm elections. The Supreme Court is back in session Monday, October 3.

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Sham Signing Ceremony – Russian President Vladimir Putin formally seizes four regions of Ukraine where sham referendums were held early this week. The signing ceremony to be held Friday at the Grand Kremlin Palace claims the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia for Putin’s Mother Russia, The Washington Post reports.

Meanwhile: The Pentagon Wednesday announced more long-range rocket artillery systems headed for Ukraine. That’s the good news – this is the artillery that has been so effective at pushing back Russian troops. The not-so-good news is that these systems are not yet built, meaning we’re expecting years of Ukraine’s fight for democracy against Russia.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

...meanwhile... (WED 9/28/22)

Senate to Pass CR – The Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution funding the federal government beyond Friday and prevent a partial shutdown, to December 16, including $13.7 billion in additional aid to Ukraine (per NPR). Republicans have rejected White House requests for $22.4 billion in emergency COVID relief and $4.5 billion for monkeypox treatments, however. The Senate moved the CR forward with a 72-23 procedural vote Tuesday.

McConnell v. Manchin: “Manch gets Mitched” reads the Politico story heading describing how Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) had tried to attach legislation to overhaul energy project permitting to the spending stopgap bill. 

Manchin had a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to provide the vote needed to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in exchange for heavy Democratic support for the energy permitting legislation.

Upshot: “Energy permitting legislation” would seem a sure-thing for Republican support. But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly torpedoed his caucus’ support because Manchin traded his vote on the Inflation Reduction Act for sufficient Democratic backing on the permitting provision -- McConnell’s “spite” trumps bipartisan comity once again. Manchin may have the opportunity to attach the provision to the annual defense bill, or lame-duck government spending, Politico says.

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Leave Russia – Americans already in Russia are urged to leave, and any U.S. citizens planning to travel there should cancel plans, the U.S. Embassy there says, as President Vladimir Putin calls up 300,000 reservists to join the attack on Ukraine (per The Hill).

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news