Sen. Joe Manchin, a crucial Democratic vote, says he looks for 'moderate middle'

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Sunday he never intended to become the deciding vote on the Democratic agenda.

“I didn’t lobby for this position. I’ve never changed,” the Democrat told ABC’s “This Week.” “I look for that moderate middle.

“My state of West Virginia — they know me, they know how I’ve governed,” Manchin added. “I’ve tried to basically represent them in the best of my ability.”

The comments came after Manchin held up the Senate vote on President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package for hours over the weekend. He eventually got fellow Dems to drop plans to increase the federal government’s pandemic-era unemployment boost of $300 per week.

“You’ve got to work a little bit harder when we have this toxic atmosphere and the divisions that we have and the tribal mentality,” Manchin said. “You’ve got to work hard and fight that — fight against those urges just to cloister in with your group and say, ‘Well, this is where I am.’”

Democrats, who control the 50-50 Senate because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the tiebreaking vote, passed the package through the legislative tool known as reconciliation, which limits debate time and requires a simple majority.

While reconciliation can only be used for bills that affect certain areas like federal spending, some Democrats are weighing whether to try it on landmark voting rights legislation that passed in the House of Representatives last week.

Manchin voiced wariness of that approach — and the possibility of ending the filibuster, which Senate Republicans could use to block Democratic priorities — on Sunday.

“I’m not going to change my mind on the filibuster,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I will change my mind if we need to go to a reconciliation to where we have to get something done once I know they have process into it.

“But I’m not going to go there until my Republican friends have the ability to have their say also,” Manchin added.