U.S. Sen. Manchin delivers final floor speech

“Throughout my life as a public servant, I have seen the power of good people coming together to solve tough problems. Sometimes we thought it was impossible. We did it. Now, as my time here comes to an end, I want you to know that my belief in the potential of this institution and each and every one of you that represent it remains as strong as ever. And I’ve said this — I believe in you probably more than you believe in yourself at times.”

Manchin announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate in November 2023, declining to run for a third six-year term as West Virginia’s senior senator.

Manchin switched political parties in May after being a life-long member of the Democratic Party, changing his registration to unaffiliated.

Manchin, 77, won a special election in 2010 to succeed the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, defeating Republican Morgantown businessman and media mogul John Raese. Manchin won a full six-year term to the U.S. Senate in 2012 after being challenged by Raese again. In 2018, Manchin won re-election again, defeating Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

“Fourteen years ago, I walked in this building not knowing what to expect,” Manchin said. “I truly believed that I could continue to bring our common sense West Virginia values to Washington and do even more for our great state in our country.”

Coming from a storied Marion County political family that included the late Secretary of State and State Treasurer A. James Manchin, Joe Manchin played football at West Virginia University and went into business, first in his family’s carpet store and later in the coal industry.

“I was raised in Farmington, a little small coal mining town in West Virginia, where we learned early on that the best way to get ahead was to roll up your sleeves and get to work,” Manchin said. “My grandparents were born in Czechoslovakia on my mother’s side and Italy on my father’s side. And they all came to the country in search of this American dream they heard about…From them, I learned a core principle: you have a moral obligation to help those who can’t help themselves.”

Manchin was first elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1982 and was elected to the state Senate in 1986. After losing the Democratic primary for governor in 1996, Manchin won election in 2000 as Secretary of State.

Manchin finally won election as governor in 2004 and was reelected for a second term in 2008. During his tenure, Manchin is credited with fixing the state’s broken workers’ compensation program, increasing pay for teachers and school service personnel and implementing policies that reduced the state’s total debt and unfunded liabilities.

“When I started in the West Virginia State House of Delegates, I was one of 100,” Manchin said. “Then I went to the state Senate and I became one of 34. Then I became secretary of state, and then I became governor of the State of West Virginia. At every step, I asked myself one simple question. How can I be in a position to help more people in my state?”

While struggling in his first years with transitioning from chief executive of a state to being one of 100 lawmakers, Manchin famously said “this place sucks” of the U.S. Senate. The Democrats held control of the Senate during the first half of Manchin’s first term, switching to Republican control in 2015.

“Coming here to Washington was so humbling. It really was,” Manchin said. “It didn’t take long for me to see that the divisions here run pretty deep…If the Senate was going to work on behalf of the people, we needed to treat each other with respect. And I’ve tried to do that with everybody.”

But it was when Democrats regained narrow control of the Senate in 2021 that provided Manchin an opportunity to use negotiation and pressure as the key vote needed for President Joe Biden’s agenda. Manchin helped negotiate the final COVID-19 stimulus package, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act. Both Manchin and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., helped negotiate the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

After saying no to Biden’s trillion-dollar Build Back Better package of social spending programs at the end of 2021, Manchin went back to the negotiation table to craft what became the $737 billion Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA included investments in clean energy, climate change mitigation, health care and prescription drug price reform, funding for western drought resiliency and national debt reduction.

Manchin served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, dealing directly with West Virginia’s fossil fuel industry. Manchin served on the Senate Appropriations Committee, helping to direct billions in funding to the state. Manchin was also a member of the Senate Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees.

During his more than 12 years in the Senate, Manchin worked with members of the West Virginia congressional delegation and fellow senators to protect coal miner pension and health care benefits, worked to create the state’s first national park, fought to include completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in a government funding bill, a law meant to ensure medical professional have knowledge of a patient’s previous opioid addiction history and funding for broadband expansion.

Manchin is married to Gayle Manchin, a former first lady of West Virginia, former member/past president of the state Board of Education, and former cabinet secretary to the previously named Department of Education and the Arts. Gayle Manchin now serves as co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

After traveling around the country last year considering an independent run for president on a unity ticket, Manchin will spend part of his retirement working with his daughter, Heather Manchin, in Americans Together, a nonprofit focused on recruiting political moderates for higher office. Manchin has two other adult children and several grandchildren.

Manchin will be succeeded by Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who won his election in November over his Democratic opponent, former Wheeling mayor Glenn Elliott. But Manchin said his famous houseboat docked along the Potomac River was going nowhere and he would still be available whenever his colleagues needed him.

“I hope you all make an effort to visit with each other,” Manchin said. “I’m not going anywhere again. The boat’s still going to be there. You all call me whenever you want to come down. We’re going to get together whatever you want.

“As I look around the chamber and I think back on the good times and bad times, I want you to know I still believe in this system. I really do,” Manchin continued. “I believe in the purpose of what we have and basically the challenges we have before us. I believe in the institution of democracy and the need to cherish it.”

Capito, who was elected to the Senate in 2014, will become the new senior U.S. Senator from West Virginia. She is also now the fourth ranking member of Senate Republican leadership as the GOP takes the majority next year, and the next chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She took to the Senate floor after Manchin’s remarks to praise him for his public service.

“Everybody’s Joe’s neighbor and that’s what makes him a relentless advocate for our state,” Capito said. “Joe has always led with conviction and a very steady hand… I’m so proud of the accomplishments that we’ve had together. Thank you for that partnership, Joe. It’s really been important to me.

“He’s West Virginian, through and through,” Capito continued. “Never does his gaze wander from what he sees as his moral obligation to improve the lives of West Virginians. Joe’s love of the Mountain State is the engine that powered his pursuit of public office, and I’m sure it will continue to power his efforts once he leaves.”