Joe Manchin Considering Leaving Democrat Party as More Jump Ship
More Dems looking to exit party as 2022 mid-term looms
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West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin is considering leaving the Democratic Party, according to reports.
Manchin told his associates he was planning to leave the party if his colleagues failed to find a way to cut down the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation plan to $1.75 trillion, Mother Jones reported.
Machin will switch from Democrat to Independent if he follows through on his plan.
The Democrat's exit plan has two parts.
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First, he would send a letter to Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, requesting he be removed from leadership.
He then says he would wait to see if the move would show Democrats how serious he was about leaving if negotiations didn't go his way.
About a week following that, he would change his voter registration from Republican to Democrat.
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But it isn't clear how Manchin's potential party change would affect his voting, as just two other Independents in the Senate, Bernie Sanders and Angus King, still caucus with the party.
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Meanwhile, House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy predicted there will be more House Democrats jumping ship ahead of the 'uphill battle' looming with the 2022 midterm elections.
“Once you get past Thanksgiving and members go home, and they’re Democrats, and they’ve been challenged before, and they’re going to get beat up, Congress is not that great," McCarthy said.
Mike Berg, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said:
“Smart Democrats are fleeing Congress as fast as humanly possible because they know Democrats’ majority is coming to an end."
Neon Nettle reported that Reps. David Prince (D-NC) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) opted to retire and will not seek reelection in 2022.
The news came after fellow Democrat, and House Budget Committee chair Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky also announced his retirement.
The number of House Democrats retiring rather than running for reelection in 2022 is now growing, with another five seeking statewide or other offices rather than remaining in the House under Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, speculation has been growing surrounding Nancy Pelosi's own potential retirement.
