With the more senior members of the Energy Committee expressing no interest in blocking Sen. Joe Manchin from the post, his rise to ranking member appears all but assured. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Energy Democrats get on board with Manchin for energy committee post

Senate Democrats are growing more comfortable with giving coal-friendly Sen. Joe Manchin a leading role in shaping climate policy.

The West Virginian’s expected promotion to ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee had set off alarm bells among liberal activists who said his pro-coal views are out of sync with the grassroots push for Democrats to do more to champion aggressive policies to confront climate change and elevate the issue on the 2020 campaign trail.


But those worries have not been echoed by Manchin’s Democratic colleagues in the Senate, who say they are confident he will work well with other members of the party. Manchin’s surprise decision Wednesday to oppose Bernard McNamee, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, over his views on climate change also encouraged his colleagues.

“He may be the ranking member, but he’s part of a team when it comes to issues of climate change, issues of the environment,” Sen. Cory Booker, a likely presidential candidate, said of Manchin on Thursday. “I have a lot of confidence I can work with him to fight for a far more aggressive agenda for dealing with the planetary crisis of global warming.”

While there is virtually no chance of major new legislation to reduce carbon emissions being enacted with Trump in office and the GOP controlling the Senate, activists worry that Manchin would be in position to water down a future climate bill if Democrats win the Senate and he becomes energy chairman. But his fellow senators point out that the energy panel would be one of several venues to write climate legislation, along with committees like Environment and Public Works, Agriculture, Finance and Commerce.

Democrats also made clear that the caucus would not welcome sidestepping seniority to install someone more progressive on climate issues in Manchin’s place.

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“Joe and I don’t see on eye-to-eye on a lot of issues, but he’s a really important member of our caucus. He wouldn’t be the only leader on issues of climate,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told reporters. “On climate, we’re going to make decisions collectively as a caucus. Nobody in our caucus has a veto over climate policy — whether they’re a ranking member on a committee or not.”

With the more senior members of the Energy Committee expressing no interest in blocking Manchin from the post, his rise to ranking member appears all but assured.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) is widely expected to depart her current ranking member position on the Energy Committee, though she remained publicly undecided Thursday. None of the other senators with more seniority than Manchin — Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) — have expressed interest in leaving their posts as ranking members of the Finance, Budget and Agriculture committees, respectively, clearing the way for the West Virginia Democrat to step into the energy position.

Cantwell expressed confidence in Manchin’s ability to represent the broader Democratic caucus on climate and energy issues should he get the post.

“I think Joe gets and understands we need to move forward on a diverse set of energy needs,” she told reporters. “I would look forward to working with him in whatever capacities.”

For his part, Manchin said he hadn’t felt any blowback from his possible promotion and dismissed the notion that his vote on McNamee was intended as an olive branch to environmentalists who objected to his support for the GOP nominee in a committee vote last week. Because McNamee “outright denies the impact that humans are having on our climate, I can no longer support his nomination. ... Climate change is real, humans have made a significant impact, and we have the responsibility and capability to address it urgently,” Manchin said Wednesday in a statement explaining his decision.

“I’ve been pretty consistent about how I’ve felt on climate,” he told reporters Thursday.

Manchin also said he expects the caucus will continue to follow seniority rules in the ultimate selection of top Democrat on the Energy Committee.

“There are rules that we need to abide by,” he said. “I’ve always abided by them.”

That’s not to say Manchin's likely promotion has been universally welcomed in the caucus. One Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to speak about internal discussions, pointed out the caucus has previously held votes on contested chairmanships, notably voting to let Sen. Joe Lieberman keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security panel in 2008.

The senator said Manchin would likely win a caucus vote if one were held today out of respect for his seniority, but that lawmakers were looking for ways Manchin could allay concerns about his possible promotion, such as with his about-face on McNamee.

“At this point, the guy deserves a chance to prove himself,” the senator said. “He’s got a very real prospect of being able to allay concerns sufficiently to move forward.”

Whether that was what he intended or not, Manchin’s move against McNamee was welcomed by other Democrats as an olive branch.

“If he does get it, he could well have the potential to grow into the role,” Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) told reporters. “You know you’re a senator from a state who likes coal and wants to push that, but that committee is all energy. You have to have a broader view.”

The lack of public criticism from Senate Democrats of Manchin possibly moving up is likely to further enrage liberal activists who have been pushing Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to somehow block the move.

“Sen. Joe Manchin’s last minute change of heart on Bernard McNamee doesn’t erase a career spent defending the fossil fuel industry,” Lukas Ross, senior policy analyst with Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. “As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer muses about who should lead the committee at the center of the climate debate, he faces a tough decision that will directly reflect how seriously he takes the threat of climate change.”

Republicans, for their part, can barely contain their excitement at the possibility Manchin becomes Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) partner atop the Energy Committee.

“I think it’s great,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) told POLITICO. “Joe Manchin holds views that are very consistent with the ones that I hold.”