Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
- Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he will block one of President Biden's nominees and potentially others.
- Manchin says he'll judge nominees on whether they're "political partisans first or Americans first."
- He's taking issue with the administration's framing of a law he supported as an effort to address climate change.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he'll block one of President Joe Biden's nominees and potentially others while accusing the administration of choosing to "illogically advance a partisan climate agenda and appease radical activists."
"Going forward, each and every proposed nominee I will review will be judged through one prism: Are they political partisans first or Americans first?" Manchin, of West Virginia, wrote in an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, noting that energy leaders are gathered in the city for an annual conference.
Manchin took issue with the administration's framing of the Inflation Reduction Act, which he supported, as climate change legislation instead of a law designed to bolster energy independence. Biden has touted the bill's $370 billion devoted to tackling climate change as the most significant investment the US has made to fight climate change.
"If implemented as the law was written by those who have been entrusted to follow the law, the IRA will not just bolster the role of fossil fuels and renewables; it will help fuel a new century of progress for American manufacturing — and yes, emissions reductions," Manchin wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Manchin's approval rating dropped in West Virginia after he voted for the law.
He wrote that both the Department of Treasury and Department of the Interior "have explicitly and unabashedly violated the letter of the law, the intent of the law, or both, in an effort to elevate climate goals above the energy and national security of this nation. This is wrong and it must stop."
He pledged "consequences" if the administration continues down the same path. As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, he wrote that he will block the nomination of Laura Daniel-Davis as assistant secretary of the Department of Interior. That's because he says she approved higher royalty rates for the Alaskan Cook Inlet sale, "which were explicitly designed to decrease fossil energy production at the expense of our energy security."
"If we continue to ignore the energy realities before us to achieve partisan goals, we risk becoming a prisoner to not only extreme domestic agendas, but to those adversaries and competitors around the world who wish to destroy or weaken us," he wrote. "This cannot happen."