Joseph Manchin III [Joe Manchin]

Joseph Manchin III   United States Senator from West Virginia
Professional / Career Details
Name	Joseph Manchin III [Joe Manchin]
Current positions	United States Senator  (incumbent; assumed office 2010-11-15) Chair, Senate Energy Committee  (incumbent; assumed office 2021-02-03
Previous positions	Ranking Member of the Senate Energy Committee  (2019-01-03 to 2021-02-03) Chair of the National Governors Association  (2010-07-11 to 2010-11-15) 34th Governor of West Virginia  (2005-01-17 to 2010-11-15) 27th Secretary of State of West Virginia  (2001-01-15 to 2005-01-17) Member of the West Virginia Senate  (1986-12-01 to 1996-12-01) Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 31st District  (1982-12-01 to 1986-12-01)
Owner of
Years active
Awards
Profession	businessman Politician
Known for
Controversies
Influenced by
Influencer of
Affiliations	National Rifle Association
Associations
Website	Manchin.senate.gov
Personal Details
Name	Joseph Manchin III [Joe Manchin]
Born	1947-08-24
Birthplace	Farmington, West Virginia, U.S.A.
Spouse	Gayle Heather Conelly Manchin (m. 1967-08-05)
Marital status	Married
Children	Brooke Manchin Heather Manchin Bresch  (former CEO, Mylan) Joseph Manchin IV
Parents	Father: John Manchin Mother: Mary O. Manchin (née Gouzd)
Siblings	Second of 5 children Brothers: John Manchin II  |  Roch Manchin
Relatives	Grandfather: Joseph Manchin Uncle: A. James Manchin
Nationality	American
Education	West Virginia University  (B.B.A.)
Awards
Wealth	2018: $US7.1 million
Religion	Roman Catholic
Political party	Democratic Party
Political position	Conservatism in the United States
Ideology
Shared ideologies

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Background

Joseph Manchin III is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior   United States Senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Joe Manchin was the 34th Governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th Secretary of State of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005.

Joe Manchin has called himself a "moderate   conservative Democrat" and is often cited as the most conservative Democrat in the Senate. West Virginia has become one of the most heavily Republican states in the country, but Manchin has continued to see electoral success. He won the 2004 gubernatorial election by a large margin and was reelected by an even larger margin in 2008; in both years, Republican presidential candidates won West Virginia. Manchin won the 2010 special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by incumbent Democrat Robert Byrd's death, with 54% of the vote. He was elected to a full term in 2012 with 61% of the vote, and reelected in 2018 with just under 50% of the vote, as the state had become increasingly partisan. He became the state's senior U.S. Senator when Jay Rockefeller retired in 2015.

As of 2021, Manchin is the only Democrat holding statewide office in West Virginia, as well as the only Democrat in West Virginia's congressional delegation. After the 2020 elections, he became a swing vote in a 50-50 Democratic-controlled Senate. The Democratic Party's marginal majority in the 117th Congress has made Manchin one of its most influential members.

As a member of Congress, Manchin is known for his support of bipartisanship, voting or working with Republicans on issues such as abortion and gun ownership. He opposed the energy policies of President Barack Obama, including reductions and restrictions on coal mining, voted against cloture for the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (not voting on the bill itself), voted to remove federal funding for Planned Parenthood in 2015, supported President Donald Trump's immigration policies and voted to confirm most of his cabinet and judicial appointees, including Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Joe Manchin has also repeatedly voted against attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), voted to preserve funding for Planned Parenthood in 2017, and voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In addition, he voted to convict Donald Trump in both of his impeachment trials.

Joe Manchin is a prominent opponent of policy proposals from the progressive wing of his party, including Medicare For All, abolishing the filibuster, increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court, increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and defunding the police. Joe Manchin is also among the more isolationist members of the Democratic caucus, having repeatedly called for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and opposed most military interventions in Syria. Manchin's business interests include founding the Enersystems coal brokerage Enersystems, in which he owns $1-5 million of non-public shares. Joe Manchin receives the largest coal, oil and gas industry donations of any senator.

Early Life and Education

Joe Manchin was born in 1947 in Farmington, West Virginia, a small coal mining town, the second of five children of Mary O. (née Gouzd) and John Manchin. The name "Manchin" was derived from the Italian name "Mancini". His father was of Italian descent and his maternal grandparents were Czechoslovak immigrants. He is a member of the Friends of Wales Caucus.

Joe Manchin's father owned a carpet and furniture store, and his grandfather, Joseph Manchin, owned a grocery store. His father and his grandfather both served as Farmington's mayor. His uncle A. James Manchin was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and later the Secretary of State of West Virginia and Treasurer.

Joe Manchin graduated from Farmington High School in 1965. He entered West Virginia University on a football scholarship in 1965, but an injury during practice ended his football career. Manchin graduated in 1970 with a degree in business administration and went to work for his family's business.

Joe Manchin has been a close friend of Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban since childhood.

Business Interests

Enersystems Coal Brokerage

Joe Manchin founded the coal brokerage Enersystems, Inc. in 1988, and helped run it until he became a full-time politician. When he was elected West Virginia secretary of state in 2000, he gave control of Enersystems to his son Joseph Manchin IV. In Manchin's financial disclosure for 2020, he reported that his non-public shares of Enersystems were worth between $1 million and $5 million and that between 2011 and 2020 he was paid $5,211,154 in dividend income from them. In 2020 he received over $500,000 in dividends. Enersystems is 71% of Manchin's investment income and 30% of his net worth.

Other Investments

Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2010, Manchin has listed AA Properties as a non-public asset on his annual financial disclosures. AA Properties is reportedly 50% controlled by Manchin, and has - among other things - been an investor in Emerald Coast Realty, which owns a La Quinta Inns & Suites hotel in Elkview, West Virginia.

Early Political Career

Joe Manchin was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1982 at age 35 and in 1986 was elected to the West Virginia Senate, where he served until 1996. He ran for governor in 1996, losing the Democratic  primary election to Charlotte Pritt. He was elected Secretary of State of West Virginia in 2000.

Governor of West Virginia

In 2003 Joe Manchin announced his intention to challenge incumbent Democratic Governor Bob Wise in the 2004 Democratic primary. Wise decided not to seek reelection after a scandal, and Manchin won the Democratic primary and general election by large margins. His election marked the first time since 1964 that a West Virginia governor was succeeded by another governor from the same party.

Joe Manchin was a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association, and the Democratic Governors Association. He was also chairman of the Southern States Energy Board, state's chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, and chairman of the Interstate Mining Compact Commission.

In July 2005, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship sued Joe Manchin, alleging that Manchin had violated Blankenship's First Amendment rights by threatening increased government scrutiny of his coal operations in retaliation for Blankenship's political activities. Blankenship had donated substantial funds into campaigns to defeat a proposed pension bond amendment and oppose the reelection of state Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw, and he fought against a proposed increase in the severance tax on extraction of mineral resources. Soon after the bond amendment's defeat, the state Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) revoked a permit approval for controversial new silos near Marsh Fork Elementary School in Raleigh County, West Virginia. While area residents had complained for some time that the coal operation there endangered their children, Blankenship claimed that the DEP acted in response to his opposition to the bond amendment.

During the Sago Mine disaster in early January 2006 in Upshur County, West Virginia, Joe Manchin confirmed incorrect reports that 12 miners had survived; in actuality only one survived. Manchin later acknowledged that a miscommunication had occurred with rescue teams in the mine. On February 1, 2006, he ordered a stop to all coal production in West Virginia pending safety checks after two more miners were killed in separate accidents. Sixteen West Virginia coal miners died in mining accidents in early 2006. In November 2006, SurveyUSA ranked Manchin one of the country's most popular governors, with a 74% approval rating.

Joe Manchin easily won reelection to a second term as governor in 2008 against Republican   Russ Weeks, capturing 69.77% of the vote and winning every county.

U.S. Senate

Elections

2010

2012

2018

Tenure

Obama Years (2010-2017)

Manchin was first sworn in to the U.S. Senate by Vice President Joe Biden on November 15, 2010, succeeding interim Senator Carte Goodwin. In a 2014 New York Times interview, Manchin said his relationship with Obama was "fairly nonexistent."

Trump Years (2017-2021)

According to FiveThirtyEight, which tracks congressional votes, Manchin voted with Trump's position 50.4% of the time during his presidency.

Manchin initially welcomed Trump's presidency, saying, "He'll correct the trading policies, the imbalance in our trade policies, which are horrible." He supported the idea of Trump "calling companies to keep them from moving factories overseas." Manchin voted for most of Trump's cabinet nominees. He was the only Democrat to vote to confirm Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, one of two Democrats to vote to confirm Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator, and one of three to vote to confirm Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Manchin voted for Trump's first two Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. In the former case, he was one of three Democrats (alongside Joe Donnelly and Heidi Heitkamp) to vote to confirm; in the latter case, he was the only one. He opposed the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, citing the closeness to the upcoming presidential election.

Manchin voted to convict Trump in both impeachment trials, the second taking place shortly after the inauguration of Joe Biden.

Biden Years (2021-present)

According to FiveThirtyEight, Manchin has voted with Biden's position 100% of the time as of May 2021. Since the beginning of the Biden administration, the United States Senate has been evenly divided between Democratic and Republican members; Manchin's ability to deny Democrats a majority has made him very influential.

Committee Assignments

• Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
• Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
• Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
• Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
• Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

• As chair of the full committee, Manchin may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees.

• Subcommittee on Cybersecurity
• Subcommittee on Strategic Forces

Funding

Manchin received the most funding from the oil and gas industry of any senator from May 2020 to May 2021, including $1.6 million in donations from fossil fuel PACs. He also receives funding from individuals and PACs connected to law and real estate, among others.

In June 2021, ExxonMobil lobbyist Keith McCoy said that Manchin was one of its key targets for funding and that he participated in weekly meetings with the company. Many senators and journalists have criticized Manchin's opposition to climate change legislation given his funding by the fossil fuel industry and shares in his family-owned coal business.

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Political Positions

Manchin is often considered a moderate, or even conservative   Democrat. He has called himself a "moderate conservative Democrat" and "fiscally responsible and socially compassionate." CBS News has called him "a rifle-brandishing moderate" who is "about as centrist as a senator can get." The American Conservative Union gave him a 25% lifetime conservative rating, and the progressive   Political Action Committee (PAC)   Americans for Democratic Action gave him a 35% liberal quotient in 2016. In February 2018, a Congressional Quarterly study found that Manchin had voted with Trump's position 71% of the time. In 2013, the National Journal gave Manchin an overall score of 55% conservative and 46% liberal.

Abortion

Manchin identifies as "pro-life." He has mixed ratings from both abortion-rights and anti-abortion movements political action groups. In 2018, Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health services, including abortions, gave Manchin a lifetime grade of 57%. National Right to Life, which opposes abortion, gave Manchin a 100% score in 2019 and NARAL Pro-Choice America gave him a 72% in 2017. On August 3, 2015, he broke with Democratic leadership by voting in favor of a Republican-sponsored bill to terminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood both in the United States and globally. He has the endorsement of Democrats for Life of America, a Democratic Political Action Committee that opposes abortion.

On March 30, 2017, Manchin voted against H.J.Res. 43, which allowed states to refuse to give Title X grant money to organizations for reasons unrelated to their ability to provide the services needed. Trump signed the bill. In April 2017, Manchin endorsed the continued funding of Planned Parenthood. Also in 2017, Planned Parenthood gave him a rating of 44%. In January 2018, Manchin joined two other Democrats and most Republicans by voting for a bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks. In June 2018, upon Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement, Manchin urged Trump not to appoint a judge who would seek to overturn Roe v. Wade, but to instead choose a "centrist."

In 2019, Manchin was one of three Democrats to join all Republicans in voting for a bill to require that doctors care for infants born alive after a failed abortion.

Airports

After Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito announced $2.7 million from the Department of Transportation's Essential Air Service program for the North Central West Virginia Airport in October 2019, Manchin called air travel critical for both economic growth and the tourism industry in West Virginia and said that reliable air service to North Central West Virginia "opened up the area to more visitors and new economic opportunities, including an aerospace industry that has generated more than $1 billion worth of economic impact in the surrounding region."

Bipartisanship

In his first year in office, Manchin met one-on-one with all 99 of his Senate colleagues in an effort to get to know them better.

On December 13, 2010, Manchin participated in the launch of No Labels, a nonpartisan organization "committed to bringing all sides together to move the nation forward." Manchin is a co-chair of No Labels.

Manchin was one of only three Democratic senators to dissent from Harry Reid's leadership to vote against the nuclear option, which switched the Senate away from operating on a supermajority basis, to requiring only a simple majority for certain decisions, on November 21, 2013.

Manchin worked with Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) to introduce legislation that would require a background check for most gun sales.

Manchin opposed the January 2018 government shutdown. The New York Times suggested that Manchin helped end the shutdown by threatening not to run for reelection unless his fellow Democrats ended it.

Before his Senate swearing-in in 2010, rumors suggested that the Republican Party was courting Manchin to change parties. Republicans later suggested that Manchin was the source of the rumors, but they attempted to convince him again in 2014 after retaking control of the Senate. He again rejected their overtures. As the 2016 elections approached, reports speculated that Manchin would become a Republican if the Senate were in a 50-50 tie, but he later said he would remain a Democrat at least as long as he remained in the Senate.

Manchin criticized Democrats for not standing for President Trump's 2018 State of the Union Address, saying, "I've seen it on both sides when Obama gave speeches, Republicans. That's disrespectful and last night was disrespectful."

On January 8, 2019, Manchin was one of four Democrats to vote to advance a bill imposing sanctions against the Syrian government and furthering U.S. support for Israel and Jordan as Democratic members of the chamber employed tactics to end the United States federal government shutdown of 2018-2019. In April 2019, he endorsed Republican Senator Susan Collins in her 2020 reelection campaign.

Broadband

In December 2018, following the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announcing a pause on the funding program for wireless broadband during its conduction of an investigation regarding the submission of coverage data by major wireless carriers, Manchin announced his intent to hold the renomination of Brendan Carr in protest of the move. Manchin lifted his hold the following week, after the FCC promised that rolling out funding for wireless broadband in rural areas would be a priority.

In March 2019, Manchin was a cosponsor of a bill that would have included consumer-reported data along with data from state and local governments into consideration during mapping of which areas have broadband and that would take into consideration the measures used to challenge broadband services. Manchin called himself "the only member of Congress to formally challenge a federal broadband coverage map through the Mobility Fund Phase II challenge process" and referred to the bill as "a good first step" in implementing public input in provider data.

In August 2019, Manchin sent FCC Chairman Ajit Pai eight letters that contained results from speed tests across his state of West Virginia as part of an effort to highlight incorrect broadband coverage maps in the state. Manchin opined that "devastating impacts on the tourism industry" in West Virginia were being caused by a lack of broadband access and that the same things that had attracted people to visit West Virginia such as its tall mountains, forests, hills, and rapids had made "broadband deployment astronomically expensive."

China

In April 2017, Manchin was one of eight Democratic senators to sign a letter to President Trump noting government-subsidized Chinese steel had been placed into the American market in recent years below cost and had hurt the domestic steel industry and the iron ore industry that fed it, calling on Trump to raise the steel issue with President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping in his meeting with him.

In July 2017, he urged Trump to block the sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange to Chinese investors, arguing that China's "rejection of fundamental free-market norms and property rights of private citizens makes me strongly doubt whether an Exchange operating under the direct control of a Chinese entity can be trusted to 'self-regulate' now and in the future." He also expressed concern "that the challenges plaguing the Chinese market - lack of transparency, currency manipulation, etc. - will bleed into the Chicago Stock Exchange and adversely impact financial markets across the country."

In November 2017, in response to efforts by China to purchase tech companies based in the US, Manchin was one of nine senators to cosponsor a bill that would broaden the federal government's ability to prevent foreign purchases of U.S. firms through increasing the strength of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The scope of the CFIUS would be expanded to allow it to review along with possibly decline smaller investments and add additional national security factors for CFIUS to consider including if information about Americans would be exposed as part of transactions or whether the deal would facilitate fraud.

In November 2017, following the West Virginia Commerce Department announcing an agreement with China Energy to invest $83.7 billion in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia after state Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher and China Energy President Ling Wen signed a Memorandum of Understanding, Manchin said that he was thrilled with the signing and that he was satisfied that China Energy recognized West Virginians as the hardest working people in the world.

In March 2018, Manchin cited China as responsible for President Trump's imposing of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, noting that the United States was the largest importer of steel while 50 percent of steel was produced in China, and that he did believe the theory that prices would increase as a result of the tariffs.

In May 2019, Manchin was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.

D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood

In a November 10, 2020, interview, Manchin said that he did not "see the need for the D.C. statehood with the type of services that we're getting in D.C. right now" and that he was "not convinced that's the way to go." Of Puerto Rico statehood, Manchin said that he opposed it but was open to discussion. In a January 10, 2021 interview, he did not affirm his opposition to statehood for D.C. or Puerto Rico, saying only, "I don't know enough about that yet. I want to see the pros and cons. So I'm waiting to see all the facts. I'm open up to see everything". On April 30, 2021, Manchin came out against the D.C. Statehood bill that had passed the United States House of Representatives, suggesting that D.C. could instead be given statehood by constitutional amendment.

Disaster relief

In May 2019, Manchin and John Cornyn introduced the Disaster Recovery Funding Act, a bill that would direct the Office of Management and Budget to release $16 billion for disaster relief funding within 60 days to nine states and two U.S. Territories. Manchin said that West Virginia had been awaiting funding for rebuilding for three years since a series of floods in June 2016 and that he was proud to work with Cornyn on a bipartisan solution.

In August 2019, as Manchin announced $106 million in disaster relief funding for West Virginia, he said the Trump administration had finally heeded his request by releasing "this desperately needed funding to the people of West Virginia and other areas of the country that are still rebuilding and recovering from horrible natural disasters", and promoted the funding as helping West Virginia "rebuild smarter and stronger and reduce the potential future catastrophic flooding in this area."

Dodd-Frank

In 2018, Manchin was one of 17 Democrats to break with their party and vote with Republicans to ease the Dodd-Frank banking rules.

Drugs

In May 2012, in an effort to reduce prescription drug abuse, Manchin successfully proposed an amendment to the Food and Drug Administration reauthorization bill to reclassify hydrocodone as a Schedule II controlled substance.

In March 2017, Manchin was one of 21 senators to sign a letter led by Ed Markey to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that noted that 12% of adult Medicaid beneficiaries had some form or a substance abuse disorder and that one third of treatment for opioid and other substance use disorders in the United States is financed through Medicaid, and opined that the American Health Care Act could "very literally translate into a death spiral for those with opioid use disorders" due to the insurance coverage lacking adequate funds for care, often resulting in individuals abandoning substance use disorder treatment.

Education

In February 2019, Manchin said the collapse of an omnibus education reform proposal resulted from state lawmakers not laying groundwork for broad support for the proposal, saying, "You don't do major reform, policy changes, for the whole education system in a 60-day session without public hearings. There should have been a whole year of going out and speaking to the public." He stated his support for home school and private school as well as his opposition to funding "them with public dollars."

In a September 2019 letter to United States Secretary of Education Betsy Devos, Manchin noted that the West Virginia Education Department had identified over 10,000 children as "homeless for the 2018-2019 school year" and argued that West Virginia was receiving insufficient resources through the McKinney-Vento program and a Title I program.

Energy and environment

Manchin's first bill in the Senate dealt with what he called the EPA's overreach. After the EPA vetoed a previously approved permit for the Spruce Mine in Logan County, West Virginia, he offered the EPA Fair Play Act, which would "clarify and confirm the authority of the Environment Protection Agency to deny or restrict the use of defined areas as disposal sites for the discharge of dredged or filled material." Manchin said the bill would prevent the EPA from "changing its rules on businesses after permits have already been granted."

On October 6, 2010, Manchin directed a lawsuit aimed at overturning new federal rules concerning mountaintop removal mining. Filed by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the lawsuit "accuses U.S. EPA of overstepping its authority and asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to throw out the federal agency's new guidelines for issuing Clean Water Act permits for coal mines." In order to qualify for the permits, mining companies need to prove their projects would not cause the concentration of pollutants in the local water to rise five times above the normal level. The New York Times reported that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the new legislation would protect 95% of aquatic life by banning operators from dumping mine waste into streams.

Environmentalists have criticized Manchin for his family ties to the coal industry. He served as president of Energysystems in the late 1990s before becoming active in politics. On his financial disclosures in 2009 and 2010, his reported earnings from the company were $1,363,916 and $417,255, respectively. Critics have said his opposition to health regulations that would raise industry expenses are due to his stake in the industry; West Virginia's Sierra Club chapter chair Jim Sconyers said, "he's been nothing but a mouthpiece for the coal industry his whole public life." Opinions on the subject are mixed; The Charleston Gazette wrote, "the prospect that Manchin's $1.7 million-plus in recent Enersystems earnings might tilt him even more strongly pro-coal might seem remote, given the deep economic and cultural connections that the industry maintains in West Virginia."

On November 14, 2011, Manchin chaired his first field hearing of that committee in Charleston, West Virginia, to focus on Marcellus Shale natural gas development and production. He said, "We are literally sitting on top of tremendous potential with the Marcellus shale. We need to work together to chart a path forward in a safe and responsible way that lets us produce energy right here in America."

Manchin supports building the Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada. He has said, "It makes so much common sense that you want to buy oil off your friends and not your enemies." The pipeline would span over 2,000 milesnthe United States.

On November 9, 2011, Manchin and Dan Coats introduced the Fair Compliance Act. The bill would "lengthen timelines and establish benchmarks for utilities to comply with two major Environmental Protection Agency air pollution rules. The legislation would extend the compliance deadline for the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, or CSAPR, by three years and the deadline for the Utility MACT rule by two years - setting both to January 1, 2017."

Manchin and John Barrasso introduced the American Alternative Fuels Act on May 10, 2011. The bill would remove restrictions on development of alternative fuels, repeal part of the 2007 energy bill restricting the federal government from buying alternative fuels and encourage the development of algae-based fuels and synthetic natural gas. Of the bill, Manchin said, "Our unacceptably high gas prices are hurting not only West Virginians, but all Americans, and they underscore a critical need: the federal government needs to be a partner, not an obstacle, for businesses that can transform our domestic energy resources into gas."

In 2011, Manchin was the only Democratic senator to support the Energy Tax Prevention Act, which sought to prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas. He was also one of four Democratic senators to vote against the Stream Protection Rule. In 2012, Manchin supported a GOP effort to "scuttle Environmental Protection Agency regulations that mandate cuts in mercury pollution and other toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants", while West Virginia's other senator, Jay Rockefeller, did not.

In December 2014, Manchin was one of six Democratic senators to sign a letter to the EPA urging it to give states more time to comply with its rule on power plants because the final rule "must provide adequate time for the design, permitting and construction of such large scale capital intensive infrastructure", and calling for an elimination of the 2020 targets in the final rule, a mandate that states take action by 2020 as part of the EPA's goal to reach a 30% carbon cut by 2030.

Manchin criticized Obama's environmental regulations as a "war on coal" and demanded what he called a proper balance between the needs of the environment and the coal business. The Los Angeles Times wrote that while professing environmental concerns, he has consistently stood up for coal, saying "no one is going to stop using fossil fuels for a long time." Manchin "does not deny the existence of man-made climate change", the Times wrote, but "is reluctant to curtail it." In February 2017, he was one of two Democratic senators to vote to confirm Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. In June 2017, Manchin supported Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, saying he supported "a cleaner energy future" but that the Paris deal failed to strike "a balance between our environment and the economy."

In June 2017, Manchin introduced the Capitalizing American Storage Potential Act, legislation ensuring a regional storage hub would qualify for the Title XVII innovative technologies loan guarantee program of the Energy Department. He argued the Appalachian Storage Hub would grant West Virginia and its neighboring states the ability "to realize the unique opportunities associated with Appalachia's abundant natural gas liquids like ethane, naturally occurring geologic storage and expanding energy infrastructure" and that the regional storage hub would "attract manufacturing investment, create jobs and significantly reduce the rejection rate of natural gas liquids." The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the bill in March 2018.

In April 2018, Manchin and Capito introduced the Electricity Reliability and Fuel Security Act, a bill providing a temporary tax credit for existing coal-fired power plants that would help cover a part of both operation and maintenance costs. Manchin said that he knew "coal-fired power" was the engine of the West Virginia economy and that "coal-fired power plants have kept the lights on when other forms of energy could not".

In July 2018, along with fellow Democrat  Heidi Heitkamp and Republicans  James Risch and Lamar Alexander, Manchin introduced the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, a bill that would reallocate $1.3 billion annually from energy development on federal lands and waters to the Wildlife Conservation Restoration Program intended to conserve fish and wildlife.

In February 2019, in response to reports that the EPA intended to decide against setting drinking water limits for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as part of a national strategy to manage those chemicals, Manchin was one of 20 senators to sign a letter to Acting EPA Administrator Andrew R. Wheeler calling on the EPA "to develop enforceable federal drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, as well as institute immediate actions to protect the public from contamination from additional per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)." In April 2019, he was one of three Democratic Senators who voted with Republicans to confirm David Bernhardt, an oil executive, as Secretary of the Interior Department.

In February 2019, after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called for a vote on the Green New Deal in order to get Democratic members of the Senate on record regarding the legislation, Manchin expressed opposition to the plan:

"The Green New Deal is a dream, it's not a deal. It's a dream. And that's fine. People should have dreams in the perfect world what they'd like to see. I've got to work in realities and I've got to work in the practical, what I have in front of me. I've got to make sure that our country has affordable, dependable, reliable energy 24/7, but you can't just be a denier and say, 'Well, I'm not going to use coal. I'm not going to use natural gas. I'm not going to use oil.'"

In April 2019, Manchin was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated through investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.

In April 2019, Manchin was the only Democrat to cosponsor the Enhancing Fossil Fuel Energy Carbon Technology (EFFECT) Act, legislation intended to increase federal funding for developing carbon capture technology and simultaneously commit to fossil fuel use. In a statement, he cited the need for the United States "to lead in technological innovations designed to reduce carbon emissions" while noting that energy experts who had testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources had concurred on the continued use of fossil fuels through 2040. He called the bill "a critical piece of the solution addressing the climate crisis."

In April 2019, Manchin was the lead sponsor the Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act, bipartisan legislation that would provide permanent and dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at a level of $900 million as part of an effort to protect public lands.

In May 2019, Manchin, Lisa Murkowski and Martha McSally introduced the American Mineral Security Act, a bill that would codify current methodology that the United States used to list critical minerals and require the list to be updated at least once every three years. McSally's office also said the bill would mandate nationwide resource assessments for every critical mineral.

In September 2019, Manchin was one of eight senators to sign a bipartisan letter to congressional leadership requesting full and lasting funding of the Land and Water Conservation Act in order to aid national parks and public lands, benefit the $887 billion American outdoor recreation economy, and "ensure much-needed investment in our public lands and continuity for the state, tribal, and non-federal partners who depend on them."

In February 2021, Manchin was one of seven Democratic U.S. Senators to join Republicans in blocking a ban of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking.

In 2021, Manchin opposed the "Clean Electricity Performance Program" in the reconciliation bill, leading to its removal.

On September 30, 2021, an MSNBC news reporter asked Manchin about his opposition to H.R.5376 - Build Back Better Act  [Wikipedia entry], accusing him of having a conflict of interest with provisions within the bill: "Sir, the company you founded, Enersystems, provides coal to power plants that would be impacted by one of the proposals in the plan. How is that not a conflict of interest?" Manchin replied, "I've been in a blind trust for 20 years. I have no idea what they're doing."

Federal budget

Manchin has co-sponsored balanced budget amendments put forth by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Mark Udall (D-CO). He has also voted against raising the federal debt ceiling.

Manchin has expressed strong opposition to entitlement reform, describing Mitch McConnell's comments in October 2018 on the need to reform entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare as "absolutely ridiculous." In January 2019, Manchin supported both Republican and Democratic bills to end a government shutdown. He was the only Democrat to break from his party and vote in favor of the Republican proposal.

On August 1, 2019, the Senate passed a bipartisan budget deal that raised spending over current levels by $320 billon and lifted the debt ceiling for the following two years in addition to forming a course for funding the government without the perceived fiscal brinkmanship of recent years. Manchin joined Tom Carper and Republicans   Mitt Romney and Rick Scott in issuing a statement asserting that "as former Governors, we were responsible for setting a budget each year that was fiscally responsible to fund our priorities. That's why today, we, as U.S. Senators, cannot bring ourselves to vote for this budget deal that does not put our country on a fiscally sustainable path."

Foreign policy

Manchin is critical of American military intervention overseas, particularly in Afghanistan and Syria. He has repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and has opposed most military intervention in Syria.

On June 21, 2011, Manchin delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling for a "substantial and responsible reduction in the United States' military presence in Afghanistan." He said, "We can no longer afford to rebuild Afghanistan and America. We must choose. And I choose America." Manchin's remarks were criticized by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) as "at least uninformed about history and strategy and the challenges we face from radical Islamic extremism." Manchin made similar remarks in a press conference on January 7, 2014, arguing that "all of the money and all of the military might in the world will not change that part of the world." He said that by the end of the year, the American troops in that country should be at Bagram Airfield alone. After the deaths of three American soldiers in Afghanistan in November 2018, Manchin renewed his calls for the withdraw of American troops from the country, saying that both presidents Obama and Trump had expressed support for taking troops out of the country but had not done so. "They all seem to have the rhetoric, and no one seems to have the follow up. It's time to come out of there," he said.

Manchin introduced legislation to reduce the use of overseas service and security contractors. He successfully amended the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act to cap contractors' taxpayer-funded salaries at $230,000.

Following the Ghouta chemical attack in August 2013 during the Syrian Civil War, Manchin said, "There is no doubt that an attack occurred and there is no doubt it was produced under the Assad regime. It's not clear cut if Assad gave the order himself. It has not been proven." He opposed any strikes on the Syrian Government in retaliation for the attacks. Instead, he introduced a joint resolution with Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) requesting that President Obama come up with a long-term strategy on Syria and work diplomatically to ensure the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons. On September 16, 2014, Manchin announced that he would vote against a possible Senate resolution to arm Syrian opposition fighters. "At the end of the day, most of the arms that we give to people are used against us. Most of the people we train turn against us," he said. He referred to plans calling for ground troops in Syria, which had been proposed by some Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, as "insanity," but supported the 2017 Shayrat missile strike launched by order of President Trump in response to a chemical weapons attack allegedly perpetrated by the Syrian Government. Manchin said that "yesterday's strike was important to send a message to the Syrian regime and their Russian enablers that these horrific actions will not be tolerated."

In April 2017, following a North Korea senior official declaring that the U.S. had created "a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any minute," Manchin stated that North Korea had "to understand that we will retaliate" and that he did not believe the U.S. would not respond if North Korea continued to play "their games." In May 2018, Manchin accused Kim Jong-un of accelerating "the nuclear threat" of North Korea in a manner that would enable him to receive concessions and that Kim Jong-un was "in a serious, serious problem with his country and the people in his country" without China.

In June 2017, Manchin was one of five Democrats who, by voting against a Senate resolution disapproving of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, ensured its failure. Potential primary opponent Paula Jean Swearengin charged that because of Manchin's vote, weapons sold to the Saudis "could possibly end up in the hands of terrorists."

In June 2017, Manchin co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.270), which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government.

In 2019, Manchin and Republican Marco Rubio drafted a Middle East policy bill with provisions that rebuked President Trump over withdrawals of troops from Syria and Afghanistan and a measure authorizing state and municipal governments to punish companies after they oppose Israel via boycott, divestment or sanctions. The measure also reauthorized at least $3.3 billion for Israel's military financing in addition to extending Jordan's security aid, granting new sanctions on individuals giving their support to the Syrian government and ordering the Treasury Department to determine whether the Central Bank of Syria was money laundering. The bill passed in the Senate in a 77 to 23 vote in February 2019.

In October 2019, Manchin was one of six senators to sign a bipartisan letter to Trump calling on him to "urge Turkey to end their offensive and find a way to a peaceful resolution while supporting our Kurdish partners to ensure regional stability" and arguing that to leave Syria without installing protections for American allies would endanger both them and the US.

Guns

In 2012, Manchin's candidacy was endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), which gave him an "A" rating. Following the Sandy Hook shooting, Manchin partnered with Republican senator Pat Toomey to introduce a bill that would have strengthened background checks on gun sales. The Manchin-Toomey bill was defeated on April 17, 2013, by a vote of 54-46; 60 votes would have been required to pass it. Despite the fact that the bill did not pass, the NRA targeted Manchin in an attack ad.

Manchin was criticized in 2013 for agreeing to an interview with The Journal in Martinsburg, West Virginia, but demanding that he not be asked any questions about gun control or the Second Amendment.

In 2016, referring to the difficulty of keeping guns out of the hands of potential terrorists in the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub shooting, Manchin said, "due process is what's killing us right now." This comment drew the criticism of both the NRA and the Cato Institute, which accused Manchin of attacking a fundamental constitutional principle. "With all respect," commented Ilya Shapiro of Cato, "due process is the essential basis of America."

In October 2017, following the Las Vegas shooting, Manchin stated that it was "going to take President Trump, who looks at something from a law-abiding gun owner's standpoint, that makes common sense and gun sense" for progress to be made on gun legislation and that he would not rule out reviving the Manchin-Toomey bill if the legislation attracted enough Republican cosponsors.

In a March 2018 interview, a month after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and shortly before the March For Our Lives demonstrations, Manchin stated that the Manchin-Toomey bill should serve as the base for a new gun control law and that Trump expressing support for background checks would set his legacy and "give Republicans enough cover to support this in the most reasonable, responsible way."

In August 2019, following two more mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Manchin said that Trump had "a golden opportunity to start making America safe again by starting with this basic building block of background checks." Manchin also noted his disagreement with the position of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise that existing gun background check measures were sufficient, adding that even though he was "a law-abiding gun owner," he would not sell a gun through a gun show or online to someone whose history he was unsure of. On September 5 of that year, Manchin and Trump met in the White House for a discussion on gun-control legislation. According to a White House official, Trump told Manchin of his "interest in getting a result" so dialogue could resume "to see if there's a way to create a reasonable background check proposal, along with other ideas."

Health care

In 2010, Manchin called for "repairs" of the Affordable Care Act and repeal of the "bad parts of Obamacare." On January 14, 2017, Manchin expressed concern at the strict party-line vote on repealing Obamacare and said he could not, in good conscience, vote to repeal without a new plan in place. He added, however, that he was willing to work with Trump and the GOP to formulate a replacement. In June 2017, Manchin and Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania warned that repealing Obamacare would worsen the opioid crisis. In July 2017, he said that he was one of about ten senators from both parties who had been "working together behind the scenes" to formulate a new health-care program, but that there was otherwise insufficient bipartisanship on the issue.

In September 2017, Manchin released a statement expressing that he was skeptical of a single-payer health care system being "the right solution" while noting his support for the Senate considering "all of the options through regular order so that we can fully understand the impacts of these ideas on both our people and our economy."

During 2016-17, Manchin read to the Senate several letters from constituents about loved ones' deaths from opioids and urged his colleagues to act to prevent more deaths. Manchin took "an unusual proposal" to President Trump to address the crisis and called for a "war on drugs" that involves not punishment but treatment. He proposed the LifeBOAT Act, which would fund treatment. He also opposes marijuana legalization. In January 2018, Manchin was one of six Democrats who broke with their party to vote to confirm Trump's nominee for Health Secretary, Alex Azar.

In his 2018 reelection campaign, Manchin emphasized his support for Obamacare, running an ad where he shot holes in a lawsuit that sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

In January 2019, Manchin was one of six Democratic senators to introduce the American Miners Act of 2019, a bill that would amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to swap funds in excess of the amounts needed to meet existing obligations under the Abandoned Mine Land fund to the 1974 Pension Plan as part of an effort to prevent its insolvency as a result of coal company bankruptcies and the 2008 financial crisis. It also increased the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund tax and ensured that miners affected by the 2018 coal company bankruptcies would not lose their health care.

In a May 2019 letter to Attorney General William Barr, Manchin and Republican  Susan Collins wrote that the Affordable Care Act "is quite simply the law of the land, and it is the Administration's and your Department's duty to defend it" and asserted that Congress could "work together to fix legislatively the parts of the law that aren't working" without letting the position of a federal court "stand and devastate millions of seniors, young adults, women, children and working families."

In September 2019, amid discussions to prevent a government shutdown, Manchin was one of six Democratic senators to sign a letter to congressional leadership advocating for the passage of legislation that would permanently fund health care and pension benefits for retired coal miners as "families in Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alabama, Colorado, North Dakota and New Mexico" would start to receive notifications of health care termination by the end of the following month.

In October 2019, Manchin was one of 27 senators to sign a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer advocating the passage of the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence (CHIME) Act, which was set to expire the following month. The senators warned that if the funding for the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF) was allowed to expire, it "would cause an estimated 2,400 site closures, 47,000 lost jobs, and threaten the health care of approximately 9 million Americans."

Homelessness

When Manchin and Capito announced over $3.3 million to combat child homelessness in West Virginia in October 2019, Manchin reported that there were at least 10,500 homeless children and youth in West Virginia and pledged to continue working to get financial aid for West Virginia children in his capacity as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Housing

In April 2019, Manchin was one of 41 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to the housing subcommittee praising the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 4 Capacity Building program for authorizing "HUD to partner with national nonprofit community development organizations to provide education, training, and financial support to local community development corporations (CDCs) across the country" and expressing disappointment that President Trump's budget "has slated this program for elimination after decades of successful economic and community development." The senators wrote of their hope that the subcommittee would support continued funding for Section 4 in Fiscal Year 2020.

Immigration

Manchin is opposed to the DREAM Act, and was absent from a 2010 vote on the bill. Manchin supports the construction of a wall along the southern border of the United States. He opposed the Obama administration's lawsuit against Arizona over that state's immigration enforcement law. Manchin voted against the McCain-Coons proposal to create a pathway to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants without funding for a border wall and he voted against a comprehensive immigration bill proposed by Susan Collins which gave a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers as well as funding for border security; he voted 'yes' to withholding funding for 'sanctuary cities' and he voted in support of President Trump's proposal to give a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, build a border wall, and reduce legal immigration. On June 18, 2018, he came out against the Trump administration family separation policy. In September 2019, Manchin was the only Democrat on the Senate Appropriations panel to vote for a $71 billion homeland security measure that granted Trump the $5 billion he had previously requested to build roughly 200 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Manchin has mixed ratings from political action committees opposed to illegal immigration; NumbersUSA, which seeks to reduce illegal and legal immigration, gave Manchin a 55% rating and the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which also seeks to reduce legal immigration, gave him a 25% rating.

On February 4, 2021, Manchin voted against providing COVID-19 pandemic financial support to undocumented immigrants.

Infrastructure

In response to a leaked story that the Biden administration would pursue a $3 trillion infrastructure package, Manchin appeared to support the spending, calling for an "enormous" infrastructure bill. He also expressed openness to paying for the bill by raising taxes on corporations and wealthy people, despite the fact that this would likely eliminate any possible bipartisan support.

LGBT Rights

On December 9, 2010, Manchin was the sole Democrat to vote against cloture for the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which contained a provision to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In an interview with The Associated Press, Manchin cited the advice of retired military chaplains as a basis for his decision to vote against repeal. He also indicated he wanted more time to "hear the full range of viewpoints from the citizens of West Virginia." A day later, he was publicly criticized at a gay rights rally for his position on the bill. On July 26, 2017, he came out against Donald Trump's proposed ban on transgender service in the United States military.

As of 2015, Manchin was the only member of the Senate Democratic Caucus to oppose same-sex marriage. He is the only Democratic senator to not have declared support for same-sex marriage. On February 14, 2018, he cosponsored S.515, a bill that would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that all provisions shall apply to legally married same-sex couples in the same manner as other married couples. As of March 18, 2019, he is the only member of the Senate Democratic Caucus who is not a cosponsor of the Equality Act. He has said that he believes "no one should be afraid of losing their job or losing their housing because of their sexual orientation" but does not believe the current version of the Equality Act "provides sufficient guidance to the local officials who will be responsible for implementing it." In March 2021, Manchin was the only Democrat to vote for a failed amendment to rescind funding from public schools that allow trans youth to participate in the sporting teams of their gender identity.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT rights group in America, gave Manchin a score of 48% in the 116th Congress. He received a score of 30% in the 115th Congress, 85% in the 114th Congress, and 65% in the 113th Congress.

Minimum wage

On February 2, 2021, Manchin announced his opposition to an increase from $7.25 to $15 per hour in the federal minimum wage, but said he was open to a smaller increase, perhaps to $11. He opposed a minimum wage increase as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and forced Democrats to limit extended unemployment benefits in the same bill.

Opioids

In December 2017, in a letter to then-Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, Manchin called for changes in the FDA's response to the opioid crisis including mandatory and continuing education for healthcare providers, reviewing every opioid product on the market, and removing an older opioid from the market for every new opioid approved. Manchin cited the over 33,000 deaths in the United States from opioid overdoses in 2015 and over 700 deaths of West Virginians from opioid overdoses in 2016 as his reason for supporting the establishment of the Opioid Policy Steering Committee by the FDA.

In 2018, Manchin secured a provision in the Opioid Crisis Response Act that ensured additional opioid funding for West Virginia after the bill had previously granted funding based on states' overall opioid overdose death counts as opposed to the overdose death rate. Manchin stated that the bill before his intervention was "basically using a blanket before when giving money" and added that the bill was incentivizing "companies to do the research to produce a product that gives the same relief as the opioid does, but is not (addictive)." The bill passed in the Senate in September.

In April 2019, Manchin cosponsored the Protecting Jessica Grubb's Legacy Act, legislation that authorized medical records of patients being treated for substance use disorder being shared among healthcare providers in case the patient provided the information. Cosponsor Shelley Moore Capito stated that the bill also prevented medical providers from unintentionally providing opioids to individuals in recovery.

In May 2019, when Manchin and Capito announced 600,000 of funding for West Virginia through the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program of the Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration, Manchin stated that the opioid epidemic had devastated every community in West Virginia and that as a senator "fighting against this horrible epidemic and helping fellow West Virginians have always been my top priorities."

In July 2019, Manchin issued a release in which he called for a $1.4 billion settlement from Reckitt Benckiser Group to be used for both programs and resources that would address the opioid epidemic.

Senior citizens

To help locate missing senior citizens, Manchin introduced the Silver Alert Act in July 2011 to create a nationwide network for locating missing adults and senior citizens modeled after the AMBER Alert. Manchin also sponsored the National Yellow Dot Act to create a voluntary program that would alert emergency services personnel responding to car accidents of the availability of personal and medical information on the car's owner.

Manchin said in 2014 that he "would change Social Security completely. I would do it on an inflationary basis, as far as paying into payroll taxes, and change that, to keep us stabilized as far as cash flow. I'd do COLAs - I'd talk about COLA for 250 percent of poverty guidelines." Asked whether this meant he would "cut benefits to old people," Manchin said that "a rich old person ... won't get the COLAs." He asked: "Do you want chained CPI? I can live with either one."

Taxes

Manchin opposed Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. He called it "a closed process" that "makes little impact in the paychecks of the people in his state." At the same time, he posited the bill contains "some good things ... Initially people will benefit," although ultimately voting against it. In turn, NRSC spokesman Bob Salera stated that he had "turned his back and voted with Washington Democrats."

In March 2019, Manchin was a cosponsor of a bipartisan bill to undo a drafting error in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that mandated stores and restaurants to have to write off the costs of renovations over the course of 39 years via authorizing businesses to immediately deduct the entirety of costs of renovations.

Veterans

In February 2017, Manchin and Roy Blunt introduced the HIRE Veterans Act, legislation that would recognize qualified employers if they met particular criteria designed to encourage businesses that were friendly toward veterans including calculating what new hire or overall workforce percentages contain veterans, the availability of particular types of training and leadership development opportunities, and other factors that showed commitment on the part of an employer to offer support for veterans after their military careers. The bill passed in the Senate in April, which Manchin applauded in a press release as "tremendous news" given that the bill was "one more step we can take toward making it easier for our service men and women to find opportunities for good-paying jobs."

In December 2018, Manchin was one of 21 senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie calling it "appalling that the VA is not conducting oversight of its own outreach efforts" in spite of suicide prevention being the VA's highest clinical priority and requesting Wilkie "consult with experts with proven track records of successful public and mental health outreach campaigns with a particular emphasis on how those individuals measure success."

In January 2019, Manchin was one of five senators to cosponsor the VA Provider Accountability Act, a bipartisan bill meant to amend Title 38 of the United States Code to authorize the under secretary of health to report "major adverse personnel actions" related to certain health care employees at the National Practitioner Data Bank along with applicable state licensing boards. Manchin said that the VA's efforts were inadequate and called for strict guidelines to be implemented to ensure veterans "are receiving the highest quality of care, and I believe our legislation provides a fix that can be supported by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle".

In July 2019, Manchin and Republican  Marsha Blackburn introduced the Providing Veterans Access to In-State Tuition Act, a bill that would remove a three-year post-discharge requirement and thereby enable student veterans eligibility to receive in-state tuition rates from public schools in the event they decide to use their Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits.

In August 2019, when Manchin and Capito announced a collection of grants that totaled to over $7 million intended to aid homeless veterans under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program, Manchin opined that the funding would "help veterans secure housing, which in turn helps them secure steady jobs and gives them another opportunity to contribute to their communities."

Voting rights

On June 6, 2021, in an op-ed published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin expressed his opposition to the For the People Act due to its lack of bipartisan support. But he has expressed his support for a reinforced version of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and urged its passage in the Senate. Shortly thereafter, several Democratic lawmakers accused Manchin of supporting Jim Crow laws by opposing the For the People Act, a signature piece of legislation of the Democratic majority, aiming to expand voting rights, among other provisions.

The bill has universal Republican opposition, and so would require the filibuster to be eliminated in order to pass. Manchin defended his opposition to it, saying, "I think there's a lot of great things in that piece of legislation, but there's an awful lot of things that basically don't pertain directly to voting." In the op-ed, he also elaborated on his view of eliminating the filibuster: "I cannot explain strictly partisan election reform or blowing up the Senate rules to expedite one party's agenda."

Personal Life

Joe Manchin is a member of the National Rifle Association and a licensed pilot. On 1967-08-05, he married Gayle Heather Conelly. Together they have three children: Heather Manchin Bresch (who was chief executive officer of Netherlands-based pharmaceutical company Mylan), Joseph Manchin IV, and Brooke Manchin.

Joe Manchin is a Roman Catholic.

In 2006 and 2010, Joe Manchin delivered commencement addresses at Wheeling Jesuit University, and at Davis & Elkins College, receiving honorary degrees from both institutions.

In December 2012, Joe Manchin voiced his displeasure with MTV's new reality show Buckwild - set in his home state's capital, Charleston, West Virginia. Joe Manchin asked the network's president to cancel the show, which, he argued, depicted West Virginia in a negative, unrealistic fashion. The show ended after its first season.

In a lawsuit filed in July 2014, John Manchin II - one of Joe Manchin's brothers - sued Joe Manchin and his other brother (Roch Manchin) over a $1.7 million loan. The lawsuit alleged that Joe and Roch Manchin borrowed the money to keep the doors open at the family-owned carpet business run by Roch Manchin, that no part of the loan had yet been repaid, and that the defendants had taken other measures to evade compensating John Manchin II for non-payment. John Manchin II withdrew the suit on June 30, 2015.

As of 2018, according to OpenSecrets.org, Joe Manchin's net worth was more than 7.6 million.

Electoral history

Additional Reading

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin doomed President Joe Biden's roughly $2 trillion social spending and climate legislation legislation - known as Build Back Better on Sunday [2021-12-19] - telling FOX News in an interview that he cannot support it. "If I can't go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can't vote for, and I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I just can't get there," Joe Manchin said. When pressed whether it's a firm no, Manchin added: "This is a no on this legislation. I've tried everything I know how to do, and the president has worked diligently. He's been wonderful to work with."

A source familiar with the discussions told NPR that Joe Manchin's staff informed Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill  [United States Capitol] and the White House about the senator's position about 30 minutes before his FOX News interview aired.

[ ... snip ... ]

The House of United States House of Representatives passed a $2 trillion spending bill on Friday morning [2021-11-19], taking a crucial step toward enacting President Joe Biden's ambitious domestic agenda and delivering Democrats a fragile, fleeting, moment of party unity.

The measure includes $400 billion for universal pre-K and child care, $166 billion for affordable housing, and more than $550 billion to address the climate crisis. It contains a number of health care provisions such as a $2,000 per year cap on seniors' drug expenses, Medicare hearing benefits, and an expansion of Medicaid in 12 states to subsidize insurance for an estimated 2 to 4 million poor Americans. The bill also extends the child tax credit, a monthly payment of $250 to $300 per child enacted as part of Democrats' COVID-19 relief package [COVID-19 pandemic], for another year.

A small faction of centrist House Democrats had demanded to delay the vote until they saw a score from the Congressional Budget Office to indicate the bill's effects on the national deficit. That score, released Thursday afternoon [2021-11-18; CNBC.com:  Biden's social and climate plan is set for a House vote after a CBO analysis said it would slightly boost the deficit], indicated the package would increase the federal budget deficit by $160 billion over 10 years but did not account for revenue expected to be raised by the bill's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement measures, an outcome that satisfied most of the holdouts. In the end, only one Democratic lawmaker voted against the measure: Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine), who opposed the bill's provision to raise the cap on the state and local tax deduction, a measure that lowers taxes for the wealthy. No Republican lawmakers voted for the bill.

The vote had also been delayed by House of Representatives minority leader   Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.), who delivered an 8.5-hour de facto filibuster on the chamber floor. His remarks, which began around 8:30 pm on Thursday [2021-11-18] and ended Friday morning [2021-11-19] at 5 am, amounted to a sprawling criticism of the bill and the Democratic Party. It had no measurable effect on the bill's passage other than slowing the vote. Speaker of the United States House of Representatives   Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the act a "temper tantrum."

Altogether, the legislation represents the greatest domestic investment in US history. But it's a far cry from what President Joe Biden and the majority of Democratic lawmakers had promised when the White House unveiled its more than $4 trillion domestic agenda this past spring. The proposal was first cut down to size when Democratic leaders then split his agenda into two: A $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] and a $3.5 trillion spending bill that, due to the particulars of congressional budgeting rules, can pass with only Democratic votes.

But it needs the votes of all fifty Democratic senators to pass in the evenly divided Senate. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) took issue with the overall price tag and vowed to vote against anything not closer to his preferred $1.5 trillion. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), meanwhile, refused to back any of the corporate tax increases Democrats had proposed to pay for the legislation. Their demands prolonged negotiations for months and slashed the initial proposal nearly in half.

And the cuts are not yet final. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Joe Manchin is expected to demand a final pound of flesh. He's made clear he does not support the four weeks of paid family leave nor a number of climate provisions. The measure has also not been fully scrutinized by the Parliamentarian of the United States Senate, who will scrub it of any spending that doesn't clearly follow the rules of the congressional budgeting process. The allocation of $133 billion for immigration reform is particularly at risk for removal at that step.

But Joe Manchin has indicated that in the end, he will, in fact, support the bill, telling reporters on Wednesday [2021-11-17] that he's fine with a vote for it by Majority Leader of the United States Senate   Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) deadline of the end of the year [2021]. Biden, it seems, is on his way to securing his legacy - it's just been significantly cut down to size.

From The Young Turks (TYT) website:

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), the most prominent Democratic opponent of a $15 federal minimum wage, has a financial stake in at least one company that apparently would have to increase pay if such a measure passed, TYT has learned. ... Thanks to legal filings in a bankruptcy dispute, however, we do know some of the holdings of one company Manchin lists in his disclosure form. That company, AA Property, is reportedly 50 percent controlled by Manchin, and is an investor in Emerald Coast Realty, which owns a La Quinta hotel in Elkview, West Virginia.

According to the careers website Indeed.com, the national average salary for several La Quinta positions is well below $15 an hour. If Manchin's $11 proposal were to win out, La Quinta hotel housekeepers, for instance, would get an average raise of eight cents an hour nationwide. Manchin has said that an $11 minimum wage is reasonable for West Virginia. The state currently has a mandatory minimum wage of $8.75 an hour. At the Elkview La Quinta, Indeed reports that housekeepers make an average of $8.81 an hour.

Hats off to anyone taking the time to dive through documents in the aggregation age, but the implied supposition here is quite the stretch.

[ ... snip ... ]

The suit involves funds that John Manchin II claims he gave to his brothers in the late 1980s so that their carpet business could avoid bankruptcy. John Manchin II - a doctor of osteopathic medicine and the owner of two medical clinics in Marion County, West Virginia - claims that not only have his brothers refused to pay him the $1.7 million they owe him, but that the two dissolved their partnership without his knowledge and that Dr. Manchin was misled to believe he would receive payments from a coal gob disposal project that the Manchins didn't even have a legal interest in.

[ ... snip ... ]

Dr. John Manchin II filed the suit in Marion County Circuit Court Wednesday [2014-07-23?] and is suing his brothers for what the suit claims is breach of contract, civil conspiracy, constructive fraud, a violation of a partnership and failure to repay the money Dr. Manchin says he invested to help the family business avoid bankruptcy.

The three brothers were partners and co-owners of real estate and other business interests. In the early 1980s, the three brothers formed Manchin Brothers, a partnership that included coal, real estate and other business ventures. According to the suit filed by Dr. Manchin, he provided all the funds for Manchin Brothers to be formed. At the time Manchin Brothers was formed, Senator Joe Manchin and Rock Manchin along with other family members owned and operated Manchin Carpet Center in Marion County.

In the early 1990s, the suit says Manchin Carpet Center became financially unstable, and the senator and Rock Manchin had to reorganize the finances of the business to avoid bankruptcy. According to the suit, Dr. Manchin says that the senator [Joe Manchin] and Rock Manchin asked him for financial assistance and support. Because of that financial assistance, Dr. Manchin says he became a partner in Manchin Carpet Center.

The suit says that Dr. Manchin invested in excess of $1.7 million to help stabilize the company, all paid to the business' primary creditor, Community Bank & Trust. The suit says that Manchin Carpet Center was reorganized in 1991 and now does business as Wholesale Carpet Outlet and is still in operation today.

The suit claims Senator Manchin and Rock Manchin promised to repay Dr. Manchin everything that he put into the partnership. Dr. Manchin says he has repeatedly requested that the senator and Rock Manchin repay him, and every time Dr. Manchin contacted his brothers, he claims they orally and in writing renewed agreements to repay their debt.

The court documents say that Senator Manchin and Rock Manchin told Dr. Manchin that if he withheld legal action against them, Dr. Manchin would be granted one-third interest in coal reserves and coal brokerage and other businesses.

[ ... snip ... ]

Dr. Manchin says that he believed and was led to believe that he had a one-third stake in coal reserves and related businesses, like Transcom (now Farmington Resources) and Enersystems Coal Brokerage. However, the suit contends that Dr. Manchin is "unpaid and without any ownership interest in the coal reserves and the coal brokerage and other businesses now owned and operated by these defendants."

According to a search of the West Virginia Secretary of State's online business database, Enersystems was incorporated in 1988 by Rock Manchin, and Joe Manchin IV holds all executive positions in the company. Farmington Resources was incorporated in 1999 by Michael Jones, and Joe Manchin IV holds all executive positions of that company as well. Wellington Development was incorporated in 2002 by Wilfred Derby of Maryland and Anthony J. Julian of Fairmont.

According to the United States Senate Financial Disclosure filed by Senator Manchin for the 2013 calendar year, there was no income associated with Wellington Development. Income declared by the senator mentioned within the lawsuit are: Manchin Enterprises, rental/royalty income, $15,000 to $50,000; Farmington Resources, interest income, $5,001 to $15,000; and Enersystems, operating income, $460,894.

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