The West Virginia Democratic senator Joe Manchin is expected to skip a prominent White House celebration of one of Joe Biden’s signature legislative achievements, NBC reported, as he considers leaving his party – and perhaps running for president himself.
Next week, the Biden administration will celebrate the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a healthcare, climate and tax reform package Joe Biden hailed on signing as “the biggest step forward on climate ever”.
“With this law, the American people won and the special interests lost,” Biden said.
Manchin, 75, helped write and name the law and attended the signing ceremony. But Biden’s actions on climate are one issue now pushing the fossil fuels-aligned senator towards the exit door and he will reportedly skip the anniversary event.
On Friday, NBC said the White House was trying to keep Manchin engaged. The senator recently dined with a top Biden aide, NBC said, as the White House tried “to ensure the president is not caught off-guard when Manchin publicly breaks with him”.
Manchin “helped us find a way to thread the needle and get things done” on the IRA, a White House source was quoted as saying.
Earlier this week, Manchin issued a statement marking the IRA anniversary. Hailing “one of the most historic pieces of legislation passed in decades”, he said West Virginia, a state dominated by coal interests, was “already seeing real results”.
But he also said he would “continue to fight the Biden administration’s unrelenting efforts to manipulate the law to push their radical climate agenda at the expense of both our energy and fiscal security”.
On Thursday, Manchin told West Virginia radio he was “thinking seriously” about ceasing to identify as a Democrat, whether to run for re-election as an independent or as a third-party candidate for president, backed by the No Labels group.
Democrats hold the Senate 51-49, a majority that already includes three independents: Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Angus King of Maine and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Sinema has joined Manchin in wielding great power over Biden’s agenda.
Manchin said a presidential run might depend on whether Biden and Donald Trump, both historically unpopular, are the Democratic and Republican nominees.
“If they are not,” he said, “that changes the game completely. The bottom line is, ‘Will the middle speak up? Does the middle have a voice?’”
The White House official who spoke to NBC said: “We will keep finding ways to work together.”
