As one of few pro-life Democrats, in 2015, Manchin voted for a Republican-sponsored bill that would eliminate Federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
He has been a staunch supporter and co-sponsor of balanced budget amendments proposed by Republicans. This year, along with Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and David Perdue (R-GA), has introduced legislation that aims to create a bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility that would seek to address the long-term sustainability of the Federal budget.
Manchin’s most vocal and significant departure from Democrat party policies has been his support of coal energy and opposition to EPA regulation, rhetoric that aligns closely with Trump’s campaign stances. In fact, the first bill he introduced in the Senate was the “EPA Fair Play Act,” a bill that sought to limit what Manchin called “EPA overreach.”
As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Manchin has supported the Keystone XL Pipeline and has been a leader in discussions surrounding natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.