WASHINGTON, DC (LOOTPRESS) – He was for it before he was against it.
Much has been made of West Virginia Democrat U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s pivotal role as a “moderate” in a 50-50 Senate. In fact, the senator has assured voters he will not be a rubber stamp for President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Manchin says he disagrees with Biden’s anti fossil fuel platform. And he joined Republicans in voting down a part of the Covid-19 legislation that would have defied Biden’s move to kill the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
All of which verifies the senator’s public pronouncements in his energy-dependent home state.
But … in politics, there’s often a “but.”
Later, in another vote, Manchin’s vote was with the President and against the pipeline.
His actions have brought howls of criticism from state Republicans. Manchin is the senior senator whose term does not expire until 2025.
Before final passage of the Covid legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced an amendment that removed the Keystone XL provision and two others, including an amendment from Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) that was approved 57-43 preemptively opposing any ban on fracking.
Manchin supported the Schumer amendment, undoing his earlier vote in favor of the pipeline.
Vice President Kamala Harris supported Democrats on Schumer’s amendment, which had tied 50-50.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) sponsored the Keystone pipeline amendment and hammered his flip-flopping colleagues. “Early this morning while the American people were asleep, Senate Democrats chose to flip flop on their support for my Keystone XL pipeline amendment, as well as @SenatorBraun’s amendment to support fracking,” Daines tweeted.
The.New York Post reported that an aide to Daines said that Manchin acted “in the most DC swampy way possible.”
“(He) thought (he) could get away with it while the American people were asleep. Folks will know that when it came down to it, every single Senate Democrat chose to stand with the job-killing, Green New Deal radicals over American union jobs and blue-collar workers,” The Post quoted the aide.
“For those representing Western states and for those that flip flopped on their support, you’ll have some explaining to do, not just on your opposition to the pipeline and fracking, but for your misleading attempt to pull a fast one to protect a partisan, far Left agenda.”
Manchin did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
