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Manchin to back Kavanaugh.

Senate Republican leaders pressed on Tuesday to wrap up the confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, seizing on word from the F.B.I. that it would complete its investigation into allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct as early as Wednesday. “We’ll have an F.B.I. report this week, and we’ll have a vote this week,” an emphatic Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, told reporters after the Republicans’ weekly policy luncheon. But Mr. McConnell’s promise was as much about bluffing as it was about confidence, giving the nomination an air of inevitability even as five...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was told by passers-by at Sunday’s West Virginia Pumpkin Festival in Milton, WV, to vote in favor of confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court...Overall, West Virginia voters want Brett Kavanaugh confirmed with a margin of 58% – 28%. This includes the majority of independent voters with a margin of 59% – 26%. This includes the majority of women voters with a margin of 52% – 35%.

West Virginia residents pressed Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin this weekend about whether he would vote in favor of Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. At the West Virginia Pumpkin Festival parade in Milton on Sunday, the senator marched alongside voters who asked him one after the other if he planned on voting or urged him to vote for Kavanaugh. Manchin would only say that he would have a final answer to those questions by the end of the week. One parade-goer continually shouted Kavanaugh’s name, and Manchin would only say, “Thank you.” Another yelled out, “Vote Kavanaugh!” and Manchin responded,...

President Trump went after Democrats Saturday night at a rally in West Virginia, a state whose Democratic senator could be a crucial swing vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Mr. Trump targeted West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, calling him "Washington Liberal Joe" and linking him to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters. If Democrats are elected, Mr. Trump said, "you'll have Venezuela, Big Version." Manchin is one of the Senate's most vulnerable Demoracts up for re-election this year. Republicans have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, meaning that they can only afford to lose one...

President Donald Trump mocked Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein for her 'bad body language' during SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh's hearing on Thursday. Speaking to a packed out arena of supporters in Wheeling, West Virginia, he accused the Senator of leaking a letter written to her by psychologist Christine Blasey Ford, who had accused Kavanaugh of attempting to sexually assault her in 1982. The allegation has resulted in a FBI investigation and delays in confirming the President's Supreme Court pick to the bench. 'Dianne Feinstein, did you leak?' he asked the riled up crowd.

Interesting: A source close to Senator Manchin tells me now, "Short of claims that definitively prove Dr. Ford's allegations or a realization that Kavanaugh will gut the healthcare law, Manchin will side with the overwhelming number of people in WV who want Kavanaugh confirmed."

Democratic leaders need a unified caucus to put maximum pressure on a handful of holdout Republicans. Democrats have all the cover they need to vote in lockstep against Brett Kavanaugh. But a half-dozen of them have refused to go there, even after the pair of sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee. Democratic insiders are feeling more bullish than ever that the party’s 49 caucus members ultimately will oppose Kavanaugh. Yet the undeclared bloc of Democratic senators could be a problem for Democratic leaders, who want to put the weight of the nomination entirely on a handful of holdout...

President Donald Trump is holding a campaign rally in West Virginia on Saturday. The president will rally for a slate of Republican candidates in Wheeling, including the GOP Senate nominee Patrick Morrisey. Trump has remained very popular in West Virginia, where he has visited several times since taking office. He has intensified his efforts to help Republicans keep the Senate, campaigning in Nevada and Missouri in recent days....

WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) - President Trump is coming to WesBanco Arena in Wheeling on Saturday September 29th. The Donald J. Trump for President campaign has announced that The President is coming back to West Virginia for his second campaign rally for Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is moving to set up a Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, likely next week. Grassley's office on Monday sent out an agenda for a business meeting the committee will have on Thursday. Kavanaugh's nomination is included as one of roughly two dozen judicial nominations that could get a vote. The move means Kavanaugh's nomination could get a vote as soon as this week. But Democrats are expected to delay the vote until next week, meaning Kavanaugh's nomination will likely be taken up by the committee on Sept. 20. Under committee rules, any...

For years, the most popular politician in West Virginia, hands down, was Joe Manchin. Twice elected governor, the centrist Democrat is now running for re-election as the Mountain State’s senior senator. In 2016, however, Manchin’s mantle was passed to Donald Trump, who carried the state by 42 percentage points over Hillary Clinton. The president remains nearly as popular today as he was on the last Election Day, and as the West Virginia Senate race approaches the post-Labor Day home stretch, the question is whether the Trump mystique will be enough to send Manchin into early retirement. He delivered a clear...

Red-state Democrats are embracing one of Obamacare’s most popular provisions to help them win re-election in November. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota unveiled ads this week slamming GOP opponents for trying to gut Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing illnesses, such as diabetes or cancer. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., did the same in a Twitter video. Each of the candidates is seizing on actions by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration to unravel Obamacare. But instead of highlighting the law in general, they are centering on its rules obligating insurers to cover...

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W. Va.) had strong words for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (N.Y.) efforts to unify the party against President Trump’s Supreme Court pick. Manchin suggested to Politico that Schumer does not have any influence over whether or not he supports Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. “I’ll be 71 years old in August, you’re going to whip me? Kiss my you know what,” Manchin told Politico, referring to whipping votes among the party caucus. Schumer has spoken out harshly against Kavanaugh and vowed to oppose him “with everything I’ve got.” Democrats will need at least two GOP votes, in...

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says Brett Kavanaugh has "all the right qualities" to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Manchin's comments regarding President Donald Trump's nominee to the high court came during an interview on West Virginia's MetroNews' "Talkline" radio show on Wednesday. An excerpt of the interview is posted on the MetroNews Twitter account. "He has all the right qualities," Manchin said. "He's well-educated and, with that, we have to just look at making sure that the rule of law and the Constitution is going to be followed and that's going to basically preempt anything else he does."

Judge Brett Kavanaugh is going to be a weeks-long torment for some on the Hill—and I’m talking about red state Democrats. Senate Republican moderates Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have been very receptive to Kavanaugh’s nomination, easing pressure from the right that they could sink this SCOTUS nominee if they defect. That could be the case, but for now, pressure has ramped up on Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and maybe Bill Nelson (D-FL). Nelson needs help. Republican Gov. Rick Scott is outworking him on Hispanic outreach, and he’s beating Nelson...

A trio of red-state Democratic senators have turned down invitations to attend President Trump's announcement of his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) were invited but declined to attend the event at the White House at 9 p.m. Monday. Donnelly said in a statement that he declined so that his first meeting with Trump's pick will be "in a setting where we can discuss his or her experience and perspectives." "I appreciate the President inviting me to attend tonight's announcement at the WH. I look...

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators running for re-election in red states where President Donald Trump remains popular face an agonizing choice over his coming Supreme Court nominee: Vote to confirm the pick and risk demoralizing Democratic voters ahead of the midterm elections, or stick with the party and possibly sacrifice their own seats — and any chance at a Democratic majority in 2019. The actions of a handful of Senate Democrats struggling to hold their seats in those states — notably Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — will have broad implications...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The opening on the Supreme Court has created a dilemma for Democratic senators up for re-election this year in the states that President Donald Trump won in 2016. The choice on whether to support the upcoming nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy will be a test for several Democrats in tough races. It could be particularly difficult for Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and West Virginia's Joe Manchin.

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill suffered a broken rib after choking at a Senate lunch Thursday, where her Senate colleague Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, performed the Heimlich maneuver to save her. The story was first reported by The Washington Post. "She started choking. People cough, you think, well. And then started getting real red. 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe,' " Manchin said Monday. "I was big enough and tall enough to get some leverage on her and pick her up off her feet. I kept jerking and jerking and jerking until she said, 'You're hurting me now.' "...