WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) leaves after a Democratic Senate leadership election at the U.S. Capitol November 13, 2014 in Washington, DC. U.S. Senate Democratice Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) was re-elected as the leader in the election. He also included Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in the new leadership team with new positions. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) | Getty Trump team considering Sen. Joe Manchin for energy secretary

President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is considering Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia for the energy secretary job, according to three sources close to the discussions.

The conservative Democrat “is being considered to show the coal people how serious Trump is about coal,” one source said.

Manchin told POLITICO Thursday afternoon that he and his staff haven’t been contacted by Trump’s transition team and he didn't have any trips to New York City on his calendar. But Manchin, who is up for reelection in 2018 in a state that has become increasingly more Republican over the past decade, also didn’t dismiss the notion of taking DOE’s top job in the Trump administration.

“If I can do anything that would help my state of West Virginia, and my country, I would be happy to talk to anybody,” he told POLITICO. “Other than that, I haven’t heard anything ... I have nothing scheduled.”

Just last month, Manchin was named the vice chair of the Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

Earlier Thursday the Trump transition announced that North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, another Democrat, would be making a trip to Trump Tower Friday.

