Despite some pushback from members of his own party, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will become the Democrats’ ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Manchin, a former West Virginia governor, has been a member of the committee since being elected to the Senate in 2010. He has served as a champion for his state’s coal industry, which has rankled some Democrats focused on climate change.
Manchin announced his new position in a Tuesday press release, saying the committee has a long history of bipartisanship. He was selected by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), according to the Huntington, W.Va., Herald-Dispatch newspaper.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the Democrats’ ranking member on Energy and Natural Resources since 2015, has signaled her interest in assuming the same spot on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. A vacancy was created there after Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) was defeated in his re-election bid in November.
Overall, the November midterm election left Republicans with a slightly larger Senate majority than they previously enjoyed. Republicans will hold 53 of the 100 seats in January, a net gain of two from the current breakdown.
One of the committee’s duties is to vet presidential nominees to top Energy Department posts – most recently advancing the nomination of Rita Baranwal as assistant energy secretary for nuclear energy. It also oversees policy concerning nuclear waste and DOE national laboratories, often calling in federal agency officials to grill them about budget and program decisions.
“I congratulate Sen. Manchin on his new role as ranking member,” Senate Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said in a Wednesday press release. “I’m excited to work with him in his new capacity as we continue our committee’s tradition of advancing good, timely, bipartisan legislation for our nation.
