Joe Manchin Throws Downs Gauntlet To Biden – He Wants The President To Use DPA To Finish Another Gas Pipeline

Ever since Joe Biden entered office, Sen. Manchin has been a thorn in his side. The two don’t appear to be friends—with Biden sending Harris to West Virginia at one point to upstage the senator. Manchin blocked Biden’s biggest plans, both his socialist spending bill and his voting rights bill.

Now, it seems like Manchin is confronting Biden again, this time over energy.

West Virginia is an energy-rich state. And Manchin has been critical of Biden’s policies that have withered U.S.’s energy industry. Now, he is calling out Joe to finally do something to rebuild America’s energy independence. And it has everything to do with another pipeline.

From The Hill:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday called on President Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) if necessary to complete a U.S. natural gas pipeline following the ban on oil imports from Russia.

The West Virginia Democrat — at a Thursday hearing of the Senate Energy Committee, which he chairs — called the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline “the quickest thing that we can get, it’s more energy into the market that’s going to be needed.

With America banning Russian energy, Joe Manchin wants the Mountain Valley Pipeline finished. This pipeline would safely transport natural gas, ensuring a steady supply of badly-needed energy. Manchin claims that Biden could quickly get the project finished if he invoked the Defense Production Act.

President Trump invoked this act when he marshaled federal resources at the start of 2020. Biden might be able to do the same, to ensure this project is finished quickly. Given the crisis in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions, this act could be invoked to address the pipeline.

The question, of course, is will Biden listen? Joe has vowed to help lower energy costs for American consumers. But so far, his policies have only made them worse. You’d think he’d take any suggestions to give him a win in this category. But Biden appears to be under the control of green lobbyists, who seem to hate American energy independence.

Biden might only agree to this move if Manchin can convince him. We’ll see what happens.