White House Shuffle: With Talk Of Perry To Homeland Security, Who Takes Over As Energy Secretary?

I told you earlier about a potential shuffle in Cabinet positions, as some are suggesting that former Texas Governor/current Secretary of Energy Rick Perry is being considered to lead Homeland Security.

Secretary Perry has blown off the talk, for several reasons, not the least of which is that it’s still early to be stating anything as certain.

A new report from Bloomberg, however, citing several sources, is suggesting that there is already another name lined up to take over as Secretary of Energy: Democrat Senator Joe Manchin, of West Virginia.

Some White House and Republican officials are exploring the idea of putting West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin in charge of the Energy Department, according to four people familiar with the discussions, a move that could boost President Donald Trump’s stalled legislative agenda.

If Manchin were offered and accepted the position, that would allow West Virginia’s Governor Jim Justice — a newly minted Republican — to appoint a GOP successor and bring the party a vote closer in the Senate to being able to repeal Obamacare. The idea is in the early stages of consideration, and it’s unclear whether it has support within the administration, according to the people, who described the conversations under condition of anonymity.

Reports are that Manchin was initially considered for the spot now held by Rick Perry, but that talks fell through when Trump wouldn’t assure him he could pick his own staff.

Perry, according to Bloomberg, was initially under consideration to lead the Pentagon.

The ultimate goal of such a Cabinet shift would be to jump-start Trump’s agenda in Congress, particularly repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

Yet to execute the idea and pass an Obamacare repeal, Republicans and the administration would have to pull off a highly choreographed series of events. Perry would have to agree to take another job, the Senate would have to confirm Manchin as Energy Secretary, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would then have to bring a repeal bill back up without losing any of the 49 Republican senators who voted for the so-called skinny repeal.

It wouldn’t be hard to imagine other Democrats leaning on Manchin not to take a new position, in order to keep him on board to vote against any repeal.

Manchin has sought to position himself as a political independent. In a recent interview with the Charleston Gazette-Mail that he won’t commit to Democratic policy positions just to win re-election.

“The bottom line is, if it doesn’t help West Virginia, it doesn’t make sense to me,” Manchin told the newspaper. “Just because there’s an election doesn’t mean I sign on or don’t sign on,”

Manchin is facing a tough reelection bid in 2018. He can stay and fight, or he can jump to a Cabinet position and avoid being sent home in the midterm.

Quite the quandary.

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