Manchin is the senior senator from West Virginia and is a Democrat. He has served since Nov 15, 2010. Manchin is next up for reelection in 2024.
![Photo of Sen. Joe Manchin [D-WV]](/static/legislator-photos/412391-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Manchin.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Manchin is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Manchin has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Feb 13, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Joe Manchin III sits on the following committees:
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Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Ranking Member
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Senate Committee on Armed Services
- Cybersecurity subcommittee Ranking Member
Strategic Forces subcommittees - Senate Committee on Appropriations
- Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Enacted Legislation
Manchin was the primary sponsor of 8 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 2788: Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019
- S. 27: American Miners Act of 2019
- S. 2906: VA MISSION Act of 2018
- S. 2211: Skylar’s Law
- S. 1165: A bill to designate the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Huntington, West Virginia, as the Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center.
- S. 710: A bill to reinstate and extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project involving Jennings Randolph Dam.
- S. 1431 (114th): Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 2015
Does 8 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Manchin sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (27%) Armed Forces and National Security (20%) Energy (19%) Labor and Employment (8%) Science, Technology, Communications (8%) Finance and Financial Sector (7%) Crime and Law Enforcement (7%) Taxation (4%)
Recent Bills
Some of Manchin’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 3308: A bill to amend title 37, United States Code, to standardize payment of ...
- S.Res. 473: A resolution congratulating the University of Charleston men’s soccer team for winning the ...
- S. 3172: Black Lung Benefits Disability Trust Fund Solvency Act of 2020
- S. 3147: Improving Safety and Security for Veterans Act of 2019
- S. 2995: Improving Safety and Security for Veterans Act of 2019
- S.Res. 423: A resolution recognizing November 2019 as “National Homeless Children and Youth Awareness Month”.
- S. 2788: Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Nov 2010 to Feb 2020, Manchin missed 40 of 2,775 roll call votes, which is 1.4%. This is on par with the median of 1.5% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
