Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he'll support some of Trump's cabinet nominees
Moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia says he’ll support some of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations during the Senate confirmation process, defying many of his own party, and even some Republicans, who have expressed their discontent with a few of Trump’s picks.
In an interview on Fox & Friends, Manchin said he wants the president-elect to be successful despite their obvious ideological differences. In fact, he said he looks forward to extending a bipartisan hand to Republican leaders so that Democrats could get on board and support reasonable policies.
“My job as a senator is to do everything I can to help him,” the native West Virginian said. “And If I do disagree--respectfully disagree--I’m not calling people names. I’m not basically trashing their ideas. I might think there’s a better path forward. I’ll do that in a productive manner.”
Manchin was considered for energy secretary and has talked with the president-elect on the phone and in person. When he met with Mr. Trump at Trump Tower, he also chatted with incomeing chief White House strategist Steve Bannon, former RNC chairman Reince Priebus, and Ivanka Trump--whom he said also sat in on his meeting with Mr. Trump. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry was ultimately selected for energy secretary.
Manchin, whose own home state has felt the repercussions of a deteriorating coal industry, admitted in a statement that he’s better suited to help his fellow West Virginians in the Senate.
In a separate Fox interview on Thursday evening, Manchin lauded Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks. Despite concerns from both sides of the aisle, Manchin called ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson a “tremendous” person, and he argued Tillerson’s ties to Russia could help ease the contentiousness between the U.S. and Russia.
“...I hope somebody does [have a relationship with Putin] because we haven’t been talking to the Russians, and I’m concerned that we don’t have any type of rapport with them whatsoever,” he declared. “What you should be asking --and checking in with Rex Tillerson--is making sure he can divest himself from his financial holdings so it’s not tied to the performance of ExxonMobil once he leaves. If that can all be separated [then] we should all move on.”
Manchin also weighed in on Mr. Trump’s choice for attorney general--Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, whose own judicial nomination in 1986 was rejected over accusations of racism. Following the president-elect’s announcement to nominate Sessions, Manchin defended the Alabama senator.
“I know Jeff Sessions,” Manchin told Hannity. “Jeff is a friend of mine, and I said I would support Jeff because the things they’re saying about Jeff--I’ve never seen any trace of that.”