US Senator Joe Manchin said he is seriously considering leaving the Democratic Party and becoming independent.

The West Virginia legislator, who has raised his national profile as a swing vote on major spending packages in the closely divided U.S. Senate, made the remarks on MetroNews Talkline on Thursday.

I would think very seriously about that. I’ve been thinking about that for a long time. I have not made any decisions about my political direction, Manchin said. I want to make sure my voice is really an independent voice, when I speak I speak of the good that the Republicans are doing and the good that the Democrats continue to do.

McConnell is openly advocating for Manchin to leave the Democrats and join the GOP

Manchin has not officially announced whether he is running for re-election, but two Republicans, Gov. Jim Justice and Rep. Alex Mooney have already announced their candidacy for his Senate seat. The senator had recruited Justice to run for governor as a Democrat before Justice switched to the GOP at a rally for former president

Donald

Trump during his first term.

Manchin’s comments on Thursday are the most serious he’s made about a possible move to independent.

For me, I basically need to have peace of mind, he said. The brand has gotten so bad. The D mark and the R mark. In West Virginia, the D mark because it’s bad nationally. It’s not the Democrats in West Virginia. It’s the Democrats in Washington or the Washington policies of the Democrats. You’ve heard me say a million times that I’m not a Democrat in Washington.

After bipartisan rejection, Manchin leaves the private legislative deal to help fossil fuel projects

In the Democratic caucus in recent years, his colleagues have grown weary of Manchin, whose vote is one of two they can’t live without in a 51-49 Senate, but whose almost constant many in

the

party, especially the Democratic president

joe

Biden has worried them that he could switch sides and remove their small hold on power.

One of his most stunning rebukes from his party came in December 2021, when after months of tedious negotiations directly with the White House, Manchin withdrew his support from a $2 trillion social and environmental bill, dealing a fatal blow to Biden’s leading domestic initiative in his first year in office.

Months later, in a shocking turn of events, Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer forged a compromise package to eventually pass and sign a modest domestic bill on health care and the fight against climate change.