“I have no idea what they’re going to do. I just know Heidi Heitkamp, I would doubt very seriously she being the populist that she is, that she would” join Trump, Reid said. | AP Photo Reid predicts Manchin will take White House job but Heitkamp won't

Harry Reid sees Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin as having one foot out the door as he meets with Donald Trump's team about a job. But the exiting Senate minority leader believes Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp will likely stay put in the Senate rather than join the Trump administration.

With the two moderate Democrats both in the running for Trump’s cabinet, Democrats are at-risk of losing battle-tested incumbents to the GOP as they stare at a difficult midterm election map. Losing Heitkamp (D-N.D.) would be an especially big blow to the caucus, given that the state has a GOP governor and Democrats would struggle to find a candidate to replace her.


“I have no idea what they’re going to do. I just know Heidi Heitkamp, I would doubt very seriously she being the populist that she is, that she would” join Trump, Reid said on CNN on Monday. “Joe Manchin obviously is running for a cabinet spot.”

Reid’s relationship with Manchin has grown notably tense in recent weeks, with Manchin calling out Reid in a press release for the outgoing minority leader’s criticisms of Trump after the election. Reid told CNN that Manchin’s rebuttals of Reid might be “his way to get out of the door.”

In an interview with POLITICO last week, Reid was cold toward Manchin but warm toward Heitkamp, calling her a “pretty good member” and declaring she’s not out of touch with the caucus. Reid did not have the same words for Manchin, whom the Democrats have elevated into leadership. And many members of the party backed his fight for coal miner benefits last week, which threatened a brief government shutdown.

Reid said last week he couldn’t even recall Manchin’s November statement that Reid’s Trump criticisms were an “absolute embarrassment to the Senate.”

“He loves the press, I have no doubt. But I don’t remember. It must not have been too meaningful to me,” Reid said. “I don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize what he wants or what he doesn’t want, so I’m not going to go into Manchin.”

Manchin is meeting with Trump on Monday, while Heitkamp met with the president-elect earlier this month. If Manchin were to leave the Senate, the state's Democratic governor would appoint a temporary replacement.