OnPolitics: Joe Manchin, Washington's most influential Democrat

Monday, May 3

West Virginia: Sen. Joe Manchin (D) • Est. net worth in 2018: $7,623,534 • Assumed office: Nov. 15, 2010 • Current term ends: 2025 • Approval rating: 51% approve; 38% disapprove

As the most conservative Democrat in a polarized and evenly divided Senate, Manchin influences almost everything Congress touches these days.

It's a new month, OnPolitics readers. But the GOP is still figuring out an old problem: How to move forward in a post-Trump era.

Plus, our Washington correspondent Ledge King has the details on West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin's influence of power in Washington.

It's Mabinty, with the news of the day.

Joe Manchin: A double-edged sword

Is it possible to be respected by both sides of the aisle – and former president Donald Trump? Manchin sure seems to be close.

"I talk to everybody. I have dinner with everybody. If I can find a pathway forward, we're going to find it. You can't find it unless you know people and unless you truly want to be a friend and want to work in an honest way, not a gotcha moment," the senator told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview.

Republicans applaud Manchin for tapping the brakes on massive legislation March's COVID-19 relief bill and Biden's proposed $2.25 trillion infrastructure bill.

Democrats see Manchin as an impediment to the nation's necessary development. But voting record aside, his support keeps the party in the majority (with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes).

Manchin's big moments

Since January, Manchin has been instrumental in killing a plan to raise the federal hourly minimum wage to $15 (he wanted $11) and limiting wealthier households from receiving payments in the COVID-19 relief bill.

As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, he stands in the way of Biden's ambitious climate change proposals to cut fossil fuel emissions and end subsidies for coal and oil.

Liz Cheney won't back down

Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney called former President Donald Trump's election fraud falsehood a "big lie" on Monday and slammed fellow Republicans for perpetuating it. "The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system," the GOP caucus chair tweeted.

Cheney could be in danger of losing her position as leader of the GOP caucus due to her continued outspoken criticism of the former president, in a split from colleagues who have remained loyal to his false claims about the 2020 election being stolen.

Last week, amid a House Republican retreat, she repeated her call for the Republican Party to move on from its focus on Trump as a figurehead for the party.

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