Democrat Senator Joe Manchin quits party, says US ‘politics are broken’

Manchin and Sinema were key votes on multiple pieces of legislation early in Democratic US President Joe Biden’s administration, including a massive infrastructure bill.

But he has also forced some sweeping legislation to be scaled back and, along with Sinema, stood in the way of plans to reform or scrap the filibuster, a procedural tool that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation in the chamber.

Manchin, a former state legislator and governor who arrived in the Senate in November 2010, announced last year that he would not seek re-election in November. He has been the subject of speculation that he would seek another political office.

Sinema has also said she will leave the Senate after serving one six-year term.

Republicans have a strong chance of capturing a Senate majority in November, as Democrats are defending more than a half-dozen competitive seats while the Republicans up for re-election are in solidly Republican states.

Republican West Virginia Governor Jim Justice is expected to easily capture Manchin’s seat, according to non-partisan analysts.

Former US president Donald Trump won the state in 2020, taking a whopping 69 per cent of the vote to 30 per cent for Biden.