Democratic nightmare: How Manchin and Menendez dealt their party a major embarrassment

A vote to move forward a top Labor Department nominee in the Senate failed Tuesday, with some Democrats helping deal an embarrassing blow to President Joe Biden.

Jose Javier Rodriguez’s nomination to assistant secretary of labor failed by a vote of 44-51 despite the Democratic Party controlling the upper chamber. Two Democratic senators helped seal the “no” vote by siding with their Republican colleagues: Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).

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The vote was further aided by the absence of four Democratic senators. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also changed his vote to “no” at the end, in a move that will allow him to bring a motion to reconsider the nominee in the future.

This isn’t the first time Menendez or Manchin have been thorns in the side of the Democratic Party. In fact, both men have recently frustrated colleagues and party officials over their failure to listen to advice and fall in line.

In September, Menendez was charged by the Department of Justice with counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right for his alleged agreement to use his role to protect, enrich, and benefit the Egyptian government, and conspiring to act as a foreign agent.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement at the time, “As the grand jury charged, between 2018 and 2022, Senator Menendez and his wife engaged in a corrupt relationship with Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes — three New Jersey businessmen who collectively paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including cash, gold, a Mercedes Benz, and other things of value — in exchange for Senator Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich those businessmen and to benefit the Government of Egypt. My Office is firmly committed to rooting out corruption, without fear or favor, and without any regard to partisan politics. We will continue to do so.”

Menendez claimed his innocence in the matter and pleaded not guilty. However, he has faced bipartisan calls from lawmakers to resign from his position, including a united front of New Jersey Democrats. He has already drawn two major primary challenges in Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D-NJ) wife, Tammy Murphy, who has been endorsed by the chairman of the state’s Democratic Party.

Menendez’s seat is up for reelection in 2024, but the senator hasn’t said whether he will be campaigning to keep his role. In a new Eagleton-Rutgers poll, his favorability rating dove to just 6% among registered voters in New Jersey.

Manchin hasn’t let up on his party, either. The renegade senator has established himself as a wild card in the voting body, on several occasions being responsible for make-or-break votes to advance party priorities. He and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) stood in the way of their party’s effort to do away with the filibuster in 2022.

More recently, Manchin has threatened both Democratic hopes to retain control of the Senate and Biden’s dream of reelection. Holding out on making any announcements until recently, mystery swirled around Manchin’s plans. The senator’s seat is up for reelection in 2024 and has already drawn two significant Republican challengers in Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) and Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV). Earlier this month, the West Virginia senator revealed he wouldn’t seek the office again — but offered little detail about his alternate plans.

It will likely be difficult for Senate Democrats to field a viable candidate to run in the race, especially in a largely Republican-leaning state such as West Virginia.

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Manchin is rumored to be considering a run for president in 2024 against Biden as a third-party candidate. His name has been speculated alongside the No Labels party, a centrist group working to gain ballot access across the country. Other names mentioned with No Labels are Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and Andrew Yang.

The group said it may nominate a candidate in 2024, particularly if the two major parties put forward two candidates who are unwanted by the majority of the country — likely referring to Biden and former President Donald Trump.