Democratic Grip on Senate Weakens

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

US Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia yesterday officially changed his party affiliation from Democratic to Independent.  Manchin, a former governor of West Virginia who was elected to the Senate in 2010 as a Democrat, has been a staunch ally of the fossil fuel industry and has often been at odds with the majority of his fellow Democratic senators on a variety of issues.  He apparently intends to continue caucusing with the Democrats in the Senate and will maintain his committee assignments until his term expires next January.   At this time Manchin is not running for re-election but says that he intends to stay active in politics.

Senator Manchin's switch to an independent status leaves the Democratic majority in the Senate in a tenuous position.  Officially there are now 49 Republican senators, 47 Democratic senators, and four Independents.  The Independents include Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Angus King of Maine, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.  Bernie Sanders switches his official party affiliation to Democratic whenever he runs for President, but he always runs for the Senate as an independent - as does Angus King.  Kyrsten Sinema was elected as a Democrat in Arizona in 2018, but changed her affiliation to Independent in December of 2022.  Manchin has always run as a Democrat, but changed his party affiliation yesterday.

The Democrats remain in the technical majority in the Senate, at least for the time being, because all four Independents caucus with the Democrats.  But if just one of the four Independents has a change of heart and decides to caucus with the Republicans, it will be an evenly split chamber with each party controlling 50 votes and the Democratic Vice President acting as the tie-splitter and keeping the majority power with the Democrats.  But if two independents decide to caucus with Republicans, McConnell will replace Schumer as the majority leader.

Both chambers of Congress, the House and the Senate, are about as evenly split now as they can get without toppling, and so too, according to most polls, are American voters in their presidential preferences.

A close race stirs excitement and increases tension, and political tension can play out in a number of ways, not all of them healthy.

It's going to be a long five months!