Democratic senators are under pressure to punish Manchin after he torpedoed two of Biden’s biggest campaign promises: reforming the tax code and enacting sweeping legislation to combat global climate change.
But lawmakers are hesitant to retaliate against their colleague because they still need his vote to pass a watered-down budget reconciliation bill that would lower prescription drug prices and expand subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans.
There is the looming threat that Manchin could leave the Democratic Party and join the caucus as an Independent with the Republicans, which would put Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in check.
Democrats also hope Manchin will run for re-election in 2024 in a state that former President Trump had 69 percent of the vote and would almost certainly elect a Republican if he retires.
Democratic Senate Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) on Monday rejected talk of removing Manchin’s chairmanship of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, telling reporters that Democrats should not risk their majority by “purging our ranks.” .
But Durbin also criticized Manchin for months of climate and tax debates.
“My big disappointment is that I think Joe should have made his place hell a long time ago,” he said.
Manchin in March proposed a limited budget reconciliation bill that he suggested could include prescription drug and tax reform. He proposed using revenue to pay for climate provisions and reduce the deficit.
But Manchin last week backed away from tax reform and climate spending after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation rose to 9.1 percent in June.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.), who had insisted his talks with Manchin were making good progress, declined to comment on the devastating blow to Biden’s agenda.
“No reaction,” he said Monday when asked for comment.
Other Democrats expressed extreme disappointment and dismay.
“That’s why I’m really focused on getting at least two more Democratic senators elected,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), referring to the number of Senate seats Democrats would have to pick up in the November election to make up for the votes of Manchin and centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.);
Both centrists have thrown obstacles at Biden’s agenda to strengthen the Betterment program and oppose changing the Senate rule.
“I’m very, very disappointed, of course,” Hirono said.
If the Senate Democratic Caucus can net two members in the midterms to offset Manchin and Sinema’s votes, “we can get rid of the filibuster and pass some legislation that will help people,” he said.
Democratic senators have acknowledged for months that they had little leverage over Manchin in a 50-50 Senate, especially after they made the fateful decision to separate infrastructure spending from Biden’s goals for social and climate spending.
Last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, which Manchin helped negotiate, sent $6 billion in new investment to his home state.
Months of frustration over construction boiled over when Manchin backtracked on his earlier support for closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and making major new investments in renewable energy technology.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (DN.M.) questioned Friday whether Manchin should continue to chair the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) accused him of “deliberately sabotaging” his agenda Biden and former Clinton’s Labor Secretary Robert Reich suggested that he be kicked out of the party altogether.
John Podesta, Clinton’s former White House chief of staff and former President Obama’s senior adviser, called Manchin a “singular doomed human being” in thwarting Biden’s climate goals.
But those calls for punishment have no traction in the Senate.
Schumer said Monday he had no comment on Heinrich’s suggestion that Manchin should not be allowed to hold his president’s gavel.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said she had no comment on whether Manchin should remain chairman of the committee.
But he admitted that “it’s disappointing that we can’t make more progress on things that a lot of people agree on.”
She said she is now more focused on trying to pass a bill to provide $52 billion to the domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry, legislation scheduled to be filed on Tuesday.
Other Democrats are trying to make the best of a bad situation by urging Biden to use his executive power to address the climate.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) tweeted that “the executive branch has many tools at its disposal” and called on the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation to push the auto industry to build 100 percent zero-emissions vehicles by 2035 .
And some Democrats take solace in noting that the Trump-era tax cuts are set to expire in 2025.
Hirono pointed out that while Manchin is causing heartburn among his fellow Democratic senators, he is still a critical vote in the Senate.
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He noted that if Republicans had one more vote in 2017, they would have successfully repealed the Affordable Care Act, which was a top Democratic priority after Trump won the 2016 election.
Manchin on Monday dismissed criticism from fellow Democrats, telling a CNN reporter: “I understand their frustration and their concern.”
But Manchin said “it’s a democracy, I’m from another state” and reiterated his support for protecting the role of fossil fuels in the US economy.
