Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia reportedly said in early 2021 that he would leave the Democratic party and caucus with Senate Republicans if there was a change in leadership and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was no longer in charge˳
The claim comes in an upcoming book by reporters Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin of The New York Times and was highlighted on Twitter on Wednesday by CNN’s chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju˳
In the passage from This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future, Burns and Martin write that some Republican senators approached Manchin about leaving the Democratic Party in the wake of an interview Vice President Kamala Harris had given in West Virginia˳
Manchin had expressed apparent frustration with the White House after Harris made media appearances in his home state and in Arizona touting the administration’s $1˳9 trillion COVID relief plan˳
The senator suggested at the time that he had not been informed in advance of Harris’ interview with West Virginia television station WSAZ˳
“I couldn’t believe it˳ No one called me,” Manchin told reporters in the week following the interview˳
On Wednesday, Raju shared a photo of a page from Burns’ and Martin’s book that highlighted Republican efforts to get Manchin to switch parties˳ Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senate Minority Whip John Thune reportedly took Manchin to dinner at a French restaurant on Capitol Hill˳ Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio was also present˳
Thune argued that Manchin should leave the Democratic Party, become an independent and caucus with the Republicans in the Senate˳ This would have stopped short of Manchin joining the GOP, but would potentially have given them enough votes to retake control of the chamber˳
The Senate currently consists of 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Democrats˳ The Democratic majority has sometimes relied on Vice President Kamala Harris’ casting a tiebreaking vote to pass legislation and invoke cloture on nominations˳
Manchin reportedly said he would agree to the plan under the condition that the Senate Republican leadership changed˳
“John,” Manchin reportedly told Thune˳ “If you were the leader I would do it˳”
Burns and Martin wrote that Manchin was not willing to make McConnell majority leader again and that he also told the GOP senators that President Joe Biden had shown contrition about Harris’ media appearances˳
One of the book’s authors, Jonathan Martin, retweeted Raju’s tweet and said he had zeroed in on one of the book’s “most vivid scenes,” describing it as “a group of GOP senators at dinner w Manchin, wooing him to change parties right after the VP’s TV appearance in WVa˳”
Manchin is considered a moderate or conservative Democrat who has often been at odds with progressives in the party and who opposed Biden’s $1˳75 trillion Build Back Better plan, effectively killing it˳ He holds significant power in the evenly divided Senate˳
Burns’ and Martin’s book made headlines last week after they reported in The New York Times that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had considered asking then President Donald Trump to resign following the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021˳
McCarthy and a spokesperson initially denied the reporting, but Burns and Martin later released audio of McCarthy from January 10, 2021 saying he was considering it˳
Newsweek has reached out to Joe Manchin and John Thune’s offices for comment˳
