SCOOP: Manchin tells associates he's considering leaving the Democratic Party

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
David Corn
@DavidCornDC
SCOOP: @Sen_JoeManchin has told associates that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party. And he already has an exit plan. Please read and RT.

SCOOP: Manchin tells associates he's considering leaving the Democratic Party and has an exit plan
He could pull the trigger if he doesn't get his way on the Build Back Better bill.
motherjones.com
10:12 AM · Oct 20, 2021

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/10/senator-joe-manchin-democratic-party-exit-plan-biden-infrastructure-deal-exclusive/


In recent days, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) has told associates that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party if President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not agree to his demand to cut the size of the social infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, according to people who have heard Manchin discuss this. Manchin has said that if this were to happen, he would declare himself an “American Independent.” And he has devised a detailed exit strategy for his departure.

Manchin has been in the center of a wild rush of negotiations with his fellow Democrats and the White House over a possible compromise regarding Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better package, and Manchin’s opposition to key provisions—including Medicare and Medicaid expansion, an expanded child tax credit, and measures to address climate change—has been an obstacle that the Democrats have yet to overcome. As these talks have proceeded, Manchin has discussed bolting from the Democratic Party—perhaps to place pressure on Biden and Democrats in these negotiations.

He told associates that he has a two-step plan for exiting the party. First, he would send a letter to Sen. Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, removing himself from the Democratic leadership of the Senate. (He is vice chairman of the Senate Democrats’ policy and communications committee.) Manchin hopes that would send a signal. He would then wait and see if that move had any impact on the negotiations. After about a week, he said, he would change his voter registration from Democrat to independent.

It is unclear whether in this scenario Manchin would end up caucusing with the Democrats, which would allow them to continue to control the Senate, or side with the Republicans and place the Senate in GOP hands. In either event, he would hold great sway over this half of Congress.

*snip*

[Corgigal]

1. Cause

by the look of his constituents, he did a long time ago.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. I hate to see MoscowMitch having the power to block all judicial appointments

Link to tweet

[Demsrule86]

52. Because he caucuses with us, we get judges.

This would mean McConnell is back in charge. This would be a disaster before the midterm.

[wnylib]

63. Which Manchin fully knows.

He is leveraging his power. We must get more Dems in the Senate to cut Mancin's extortion games.

[Demsrule86]

102. Until and unless that happens we need Manchin.

Where are the new Senators going to come from? With Manchin gone we would need three to get anything done...Manchin would be another vote for the GOP and Sinema is not particularly cooperative...we need Manchin and what if we don't win more votes in 22?

[YoshidaYui]

84. this

[brush]

2. He's already left the party.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. So you want MoscowMitch to be Senate Majority leader?

[brush]

12. I didn't say that. Manchin in effect has abandoned his own party's agenda...

and is siding with McTurtle and the republicans. What else do you call it? Both infrastructure bills could've been passed months ago if not for Manchin and his partner in crime, Sinema.

We have to face it. It's right before our eyes. They're working with the enemy whether McTurtle is majority leader or not. And he might as well be since the filibuster and the sixty vote margin needed to overcome it allows the minority leader to act as majority leader and Manchin won't consider even carve-outs on it for even voting rights bills.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. I care about judicial appointment

Link to tweet

[brush]

18. And you think Manchin will go along with Biden's appointments?

Let's see if that happens.

[FBaggins]

22. How many has he voted against?

There have been hundreds.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

34. Do you have support for this position

I have not seen that Senator Manchin has voted against any Biden nominee in the real world

Link to tweet

[FBaggins]

39. Sorry - that wasn't as clear as it could have been.

My point was that there have been hundreds of Biden nominees and it isn't like Manchin is voting against them.

I think he has opposed a couple of them (e.g., Neera Tanden), but their nominations were pulled because of it. So technically he didn't vote against them... but the effect was the same.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

33. 18 judges now confirmed to lifetime federal judicial appointments.

This is a very fast pace

Link to tweet

[Demsrule86]

58. Yes he would... we are getting lower court judges everyday...very very important...I can't believe

some here advocate for a majority loss in the Senate....nothing would get done...not even the infrastructure bill and we will lose the presidency in 24 most likely.

[ShazzieB]

87. He's been voting for Biden's judicial appointments so far.

So yeah, he's been going along with them.

[brush]

93. Hope so, but he sure seems to listing farther and farther right.

[ShazzieB]

115. He does. But from what I hear, he's been good on the judicial appointments.

[Demsrule86]

103. As long as he caucuses with the Democrats and gives us the majority that is not true.

[brush]

114. That remains to be seen. He's leaning farther and farther right.

Last edited Sat Oct 23, 2021, 05:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Let's see if he finally stops the Scrooge act and negotiates upward and helps Joe Biden get his agenda through.

Enough is enough. This should've been done months ago.

[Demsrule86]

118. No, he is exactly the same. He is not nor ever will

Be progressive. But consider without his vote the ACA would be gone.

[brush]

119. Sorry, I never understand your responses. What does this have to do...

with what I said in my OP? I certainly never said he was a progressive. You're not making sense.

[Demsrule86]

55. Do understand if he leaves our party and caucuses with the GOP, we lose our senate majority and all

judges? This would be a disaster.

[brush]

62. Of course, no one wants that but it's Manchin's decision...

he's still playing kingmaker and seems to revel in doing just that. It's all in his hands.

Let's see if he continues to squeeze all of the good parts out of the BBB bill so he can please the special interest groups he's in alignment with...fossil fuel/big coal.

[True Blue American]

74. As if becoming a Republican right now is a wise choice? When so many Republicans

Are going to vote for Democrats? Manchin is bluffing.

[ShazzieB]

86. I doubt Manchin cares about any voters other than the ones in WV that elected him to the Senate.

It's a deep red state, and yet they've been voting for him in spite of him running as a Democrat. It's hard to imagine how changing the label to independent would hurt him any.

Edited to add: Some have pointed out that he'd get primaried and be knocked out of the race. But the article says he's threatening to become an independent, not a Republican. Yes, he'd still have to run against whoever the GOP puts up in the general election, but he's been doing that, and winning, as a nominal Democrat. Maybe he has reason to believe that wouldn't change.

[True Blue American]

91. Manchin said the rumor

Last edited Thu Oct 21, 2021, 03:06 AM - Edit history (1)

Was BS! He had no intention of. Leaving the Democratic Party!

[ShazzieB]

92. Interesting!

[Demsrule86]

104. Thank God!!!!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

112. On the Reidout, Corn is still sticking to his reporting

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. I would hate to see MoscowMitch become Senate Majority leader

Link to tweet

[H2Oart]

16. Concerning

This is actually concerning to me. Others may say… see, I told you, we know it, what a DINO..etc, but the very worst thing for our party now is to lose control of the Senate. No infrastructure bill, no reconciliation bill, no control of committees.

A major need is to GTVO on our Senate candidates and to retain the majority. I believe this is the very top priority.

[Scarlet Begalas]

42. H2Oart

Absolutely correct. You may not like Manchin much but, as long as he's a Democrat, we have a Senate majority.

[ShazzieB]

81. Exactly.

Sometime I wonder how many DUers realize how important that is. I know a lot of us get it, but anyone who thinks Manchin officially defecting wouldn't make much of a difference is disastrously misinformed and profoundly mistaken.

[msfiddlestix]

5. not exactly a surprise.

he finally admits it.

now i guess it will be ok to consider him a republican party asset?

[agingdem]

37. he's got some problems

once he defects he loses whatever power he has to control the political discourse..he's under Mitch's thumb, marching in-step, quoting the party line...his legacy will be that of a traitor...if he has any intention of getting re-elected it ain't gonna happen...he was lucky to get elected as a Democrat...next time his constituents will vote for a Trump sycophant not a DINO....

[msfiddlestix]

46. that's my thinking too, so it occurs to me he has a plan for that outcome too

Speculating here of course...

Once he defects back to the GOP and he should lose his re-election to the Senate, he'll then be free to join the ranks of the energy lobbyists and make a ton of dough influencing lawmakers in the Senate etc.on behalf big Pherma, and Big Energy etc..

Or if the GOP backs him for his reelection and he wins.. well, Manchin wins either way.

Which really sucks.

Curious what happens with his Wife's appointment when he pulls this stunt.

[agingdem]

48. He's rich now...

if he morphs into an energy lobbyist do you really think he'll have sway with lawmakers who aren't already taking energy campaign dollars?...the guy has an ego mountains high and I suspect his ego feeds his legacy..if he switches, even if he goes Independent, once out of office he will always be remembered as nothing more than another out of touch self-serving ex senator..

[msfiddlestix]

50. I do understand he and his family are wealthy...

I've noticed that for many wealthy folks, there's never enough for them. they want it all.

[agingdem]

54. True..but he does enjoy having his ass kissed...

the goes away when he's the one kissing ass....

[msfiddlestix]

61. yeah, it's hard not to notice.. all the media attention he's getting

is the crowning jewel I reckon.

[MarcA]

68. They want it all so Others can't have any.

Can't have the little people causing any problems, have to keep them
voting against their own best interests.

[hatrack]

99. He's 75 fucking years old and worth something like $10 million . . . .

It's not money, it's power. He gets off on it, and he wants more More MORE power and attention.

[agingdem]

100. yes and if he switches he loses that power...

he becomes Mitch's prize stooge...he'll be welcomed and then "backbenched"..he'll have the title but nothing else...he's already denying the rumor, a rumor he more than likely started...Manchin is an attention seeker...he's not going anywhere...

[BannonsLiver]

6. He left long ago.

[Mike Nelson]

7. Hmm...

... guess that arm-hugging video with Bernie was an omen!

[JoanofArgh]

8. JFC. He's a child. This would make it a lot harder to maintain control of the Senate.

I actually expected this from Sinema, to be honest.

[Demsrule86]

59. The day he leaves the party we lose control of the Senate...

[JoanofArgh]

64. Yep. We can't allow that. The way to neutralize Manchin and Sinema is to elect more Democrats.

We have no other options.

[gohuskies]

9. Well there it is folks, what everyone has suspected is now out in the open

This guy is completely disinenguous and beholden to special interests and lobbyists and got into office using Democratic support. To say that i am disgusted is a total understatement. This makes my blood boil.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. lmaooooooooooo

[FalloutShelter]

11. Sabotage Biden agenda ... CHECK

Collect reward …

[FBaggins]

13. This could be why the president was telegraphing such significant changes to BBB

He seemed to move pretty quickly from paving the way for some trimming to much more substantial changes - almost overnight

[Bleacher Creature]

15. I'm not buying this, at least not now.

The minute he becomes a Republican he's just one of 51 in the Senate. And the Senate then becomes a place where things die, at least while Biden is President, so it's not like McConnell will need his vote.

If he decides to run again, I could see him switch a year or two in advance. But right now, he's the kingmaker, which is what he wants.

I see this as a story leaked by his office to play hardball with Biden and Schumer.

[renate]

28. If he caucuses with the GOP he immediately becomes irrelevant

I’m more worried about Sinema because she’s obviously easily bribeable.

[GoodRaisin]

40. If he caucuses with the GOP Dems lose the majority.

[renate]

97. and he becomes McConnell's #51 and thus unnecessary to Mitch

His switching would be the opposite of irrelevant, but him personally... instant irrelevance. As Democrats he and Sinema are basically in the catbird seats. I worry that she's such a flake she would literally sell out to the highest bidder since her political career ends in four years, but I think Manchin likes being a power broker.

[GoodRaisin]

117. True. I misunderstood your comment then.

Don’t think he’d do that.

[Demsrule86]

60. McConnell will give Manchin or Sinema anything...so no he won't be irrelevant.

[bedazzled]

29. Thats the way it is i thjnk

he is all powerful now and won't leave that. Nauseating that it always comes down to one or two assholes controlling everything

[GoCubsGo]

31. Yes, this exactly.

I'm calling bullshit on it, too. Hopefully, Biden and Schumer will remind him he'll lose any power he has now if he switches parties.

[LymphocyteLover]

38. yes

[Salviati]

57. I don't see how he survives a republican primary.

sure mitch might promise him that no one would run against him, but since when to trump cult members listen to DC leadership?

[FBaggins]

67. Republicans could easily guarantee that survival as part of a deal

But that doesn't really matter. Who says that senate "survival" is important to him? He'll be 77 before his next election. Maybe he intends to retire.

He's also said that he would like to run for Governor again - and the existing governor (a former Democrat who gets elected statewide without trouble) is term limited and wants to run for Senate in that same election.

That sounds like a clear "survival" path. He's won statewide elections for over 20 years now... pissing off Democrats in the most Republican state in the union isn't likely to be career-ending.

[ShazzieB]

90. According to the article, he plans to change his voter registration from Democrat to independent.

That would mean no GOP primaries to worry about, just running against a Republican in the general election like he's been doing.

[dsc]

19. And since Breyer didn't retire we have to give in no matter what

This is infuriating. We won a Presidential election by 7 percent, the three Senate elections that produced this Senate by an average of 8, and the House races that produced the House by 5 or 6. In literally any other country we would have massive majorities and get everything we campaigned on. Our country is broken.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it

Here is some history https://www.cop.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Majority_Minority_Leaders.htm

27 From January 3 to January 20, 2001, with the Senate divided evenly between the two parties, the Democrats held the majority due to the deciding vote of outgoing Democratic Vice President Al Gore. Senator Thomas A. Daschle served as majority leader at that time. Beginning on January 20, 2001, Republican Vice President Richard Cheney held the deciding vote, giving the majority to the Republicans. Senator Trent Lott resumed his position as majority leader on that date. On May 24, 2001, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont announced his switch from Republican to Independent status, effective June 6, 2001. He announced that he would caucus with the Democrats, giving the party a one-seat advantage and changing control of the Senate back to the Democrats. Thomas A. Daschle again became majority leader on June 6, 2001. Trent Lott announced on December 20, 2002, that he would not continue as Republican leader in the 108th Congress. William Frist was elected Republican leader on December 23, 2002 and began service on January 7, 2003.

I really do not want MoscowMitch to be Senate Majority leader

[dalton99a]

21. Shocking, indeed

[MineralMan]

23. Hmm...I'm going to need some corroboration on this one.

Single source, with no names of any of his "associates."

Sounds like wishful thinking on David Corn's part to me.

We'll see...maybe...

[dweller]

25. Every damn day

This chump is sticking a wooden shoe in the cogs …

I wonder how his constituents will take this news?

✌🏻

[NewHendoLib]

26. DINO...mite!!!!! bye. Joe

[Demsrule86]

51. Say goodbye to our majority and more judges...without him...we have no shot at any policy.

[NewHendoLib]

83. at some point one has to have principles

if all he does is obstruct what Democrats want to/need to do, what good is he? Same with Sinema.

I am so totally fed up with today's total bullshit version of politics.

[ShazzieB]

88. Handing the Senate to McTurtle on a silver platter would be much worse.

As frustrating as the current situation is, giving Moscow Mitch full control over the Senate would be orders of magnitude worse.

Ask Chuck Schumer if he'd rather be majority leader (Manchinema and all) or turn the Senate back over to the toxic turtle. I'm sure he'd agree with me.

[Celerity]

27. there are a lot of ifs and unknowns in this

he is considering leaving the Democratic Party if President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill do not agree to his demand to cut the size of the social infrastructure bill from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion, according to people who have heard Manchin discuss this. Manchin has said that if this were to happen, he would declare himself an “American Independent.” And he has devised a detailed exit strategy for his departure.

He told associates that he has a two-step plan for exiting the party. First, he would send a letter to Sen. Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, removing himself from the Democratic leadership of the Senate. (He is vice chairman of the Senate Democrats’ policy and communications committee.) Manchin hopes that would send a signal. He would then wait and see if that move had any impact on the negotiations. After about a week, he said, he would change his voter registration from Democrat to independent.

It is unclear whether in this scenario Manchin would end up caucusing with the Democrats, which would allow them to continue to control the Senate, or side with the Republicans and place the Senate in GOP hands. In either event, he would hold great sway over this half of Congress.

[dchill]

30. Willing to burn down America so he can keep burning coal.

[monkeyman1]

32. hope he just ended his jacked up career ?

[FBaggins]

35. Not for at least three years

[Reader Rabbit]

36. What do you think Putin has on him?

Yeah, he's in up to his next with the fossil fuel industry, but this is Lindsay Graham suicidal stupidity level. Someone must have pix or video of him with farm animals or something.

[monkeyman1]

45. Russian money or something ! maybe that big boat , guess is good as mine ?

[TexasTowelie]

95. Really?

I understand that people are frustrated with Manchin, but at this point he remains a Democrat so initiating a collection point for unsubstantiated rumors that he is somehow allied with Putin is inappropriate on Democratic site.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

41. Biden is appointing judges faster than Trump, and most everyone else--for now

If MoscowMitch becomes Senate Majority Leader, Joe will not being appointing any judges

Link to tweet

By the August recess, the Senate had confirmed nine Biden judicial nominees. Between Feb. 25 and Aug. 8, 1969, the Democratic-led Senate confirmed 10 of Nixon’s lower-court nominees—and seated conservative Chief Justice Warren Burger by a lopsided vote 17 days after his nomination to replace liberal icon Earl Warren.

Nixon’s was a less-partisan confirmation environment. During his tumultuous five-and-a-half-year presidency, the Democratic Senate confirmed over 90% of his lower-court nominees (despite two Supreme Court nomination failures).....

Biden’s aggressive nomination agenda and his nominees’ demographic and professional diversity probably reflect an effort to offset Trump’s near-record number of confirmations and may mollify those pressing him—unsuccessfully—to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court.

What explains his success to date?

First, he may be avoiding time-consuming nomination negotiations with Republican home-state senators. All of Biden’s judicial nominees have been in states with no Republican senators (or no senators at all—for example, Washington, D.C.). Yet, as of early September, of the 59 district vacancies with no nominees, 16 are in states with at least one Republican senator. Of those 16 vacant judgeships, all but one of the incumbents had either left active status by March (creating the vacancy) or announced their intention to do so. The one nominee-less circuit vacancy, which the incumbent announced in February, is in red-state Kansas.

[SunSeeker]

44. How would he survive a Republican primary in his state?

And the Democrats in his state sure won't rush to vote for him if he becomes a Republican.

[ShazzieB]

89. According to the article, he plans to change his voter registration from Democrat to independent.

NOT Republican.

And I doubt he's been getting elected in bright red WV because of Democratic support. He may have reason to believe that going independent wouldn't make much difference. And that's assuming he even plans to run again. Do we know if he even does?

[SunSeeker]

94. He's 74 now. He'll be 80 when he runs again.

Senator Diane Feinstein is 88.

[Alhena]

47. If this doesn't make Breyer retire now then shame on him

[FBaggins]

69. Sounds like it's too late

If Manchin switches - we may be better off hoping that we can pick up 2-3 seats in the midterms and he can retire in 2023.

[Elessar Zappa]

85. Manchin has denied the rumor.

I don’t think he’ll switch. He’ll just continue to be a thorn in our side for the foreseeable future.

[FBaggins]

108. I don't think he'll switch either - but I like him as a "thorn in our side"

Because he is absolutely the best option we have in WV. And the alternative to being a thorn in our side (currently) is the bullet in the head that the OP speculates about.

[Elessar Zappa]

110. Ultimately I agree that he's the best we can do in West Virginia.

But I still don’t like him.

[Joinfortmill]

49. WTF?

[TNNurse]

53. Has been a fraudulent Dem for quite awhile.

Seems like a GOP whore to me anyway.

[Demsrule86]

105. No, he votes with us about 80 % of of the time...a GOP type never votes with us...we need the

seat period. And if we win more Senates seats hopefully, they won't be from, deep blue states, and we will still be dealing with moderates...and if we want a majority, we will be thankful for them and get what we can...the ACA was imperfect some on the left said we should wait for single-payer but they were wrong. This bill made Americans believe health care is a right...the same will happen with other legislation which while not perfect will open the door for better stuff. And I would remind you without Manchin's vote no matter what McCain did, the ACA would be gone...millions of lives have been saved because of this bill. We need to think strategically and long-term politically.

[OverBurn]

56. Bought and paid for traitor. Scum.

[berni_mccoy]

65. At this point it's just a formality

[Demsrule86]

106. We have the majority because of Manchin. I would never want Mitch back in charge.

[berni_mccoy]

109. Mitch is in charge

[Patton French]

66. This has probably been in the works for a while. (n/t)

[mountain grammy]

70. I mentioned a fear of this a long time ago on DU

my post was hidden.

[48656c6c6f20]

71. But, but, but, Joe is a Democrat!

We need him!





Psst. Don't tell the Joe police but









Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out Joe Coal!

[AZProgressive]

72. Sounds like blackmail to me

If we don’t do everything Manchin wants he switches party. He says No to pretty much everything.

[True Blue American]

75. Yes! Me too.

[ramblin_dave]

73. Manchin denies story he's considering leaving Democratic Party

Link to tweet

Manchin denies story he’s considering leaving Democratic Party: “It’s bullshit,” he told me. He added: “I have no control of rumors.”

[Sabuca]

76. Take Sinema with you, please

Maybe they can form the Obstruction Party.

[Demsrule86]

107. Great than we can lose the majority by two Senators. Here is a question for you...where will

the new Senators come from for a majority? Name the states.

[TomDaisy]

77. crybaby needs more attention

[Laura PourMeADrink]

78. Well that sucks!!!!

[Jon King]

79. Manchin says it is "BullS**t".

Manchin told a reporter that its nothing but a BS rumor.

[lame54]

111. Only because it went public...

David Corn said the sources were impeccable

The reporting was accurate

[czarjak]

80. Rich White Guy Party! Makes perfect sense?

[jaxexpat]

82. Looks like Schumer will need to settle for $1.75 trillion and hopefully no less than that.

Hopefully closer to the $3.5 trillion advertised. I only hope Biden had enough fat in the BBB plan to, at least, keep a progressive foot in the door for a stronger majority, to be elected in 2022, to build on.

It's not the end of the world until these two dinos start caucusing with the asylum escapees on the other side of the aisle. If that happens all of us have huge disappointments in our future. Problems which could kill our chances in 2022.

Everything is about 2022 and as usual, our problems are:
1. Inciting enthusiasm for independents to go to the polls
2. Ensuring the votes are counted
3. Maintaining access to the polls for people the GOP has targeted as no-votes
4. Preventing the MSM panning of Democrats by successfully misinforming, alienating and discouraging too many voters

Though I wax unenthusiastic for the fact of it, the Lincoln Project guys et al are going to be more important than ever in 2022.

Besides, who cares what I'm enthusiastic about anyway, I'm unstylishly mature.

[Celerity]

101. The big problem is not so much the topline number (as 6 years at 2.1 trillion or 5 years at 1.75

trillion yields the same per annum spend as 3.5 trillion over 10 years) but the fact that giant parts, whole programmes, in the BBB Act are going to be either stripped out entirely or positively eviscerated, so much that they will ne mere shadows of their original selves.

Plus, Sinema is directly trying to strip out hundreds upon hundreds of billions of dollars from the funding side (such as savings from prescription drug price negations, plus tax increases that she is trying to block) that could THEN be used as an excuse by Manchin and her as reasons for FURTHER slashings, as the BBB Act will, quite likely, no longer be revenue neutral if Sinema gets her way.

It's a double pincer movement of shitbaggery.

[USALiberal]

96. Not true!!! Nt

[Septua]

98. He won't leave...

..based on a pundit opinion, because he can't win a W VA primary as a Republican.

[Kali]

113. what an asshole

[meadowlander]

116. Roll on 2022...

All I want for Christmas is three more actual Democrats elected to the Senate next year.