Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
- Sens. Manchin and Sinema are drawing financial backing from GOP donors, per The New York Times.
- In recent months, conservative donors have feted the moderate Democratic lawmakers at fundraisers.
- Republicans donors have applauded the duo's efforts in paring down large spending proposals.
For most of this year, the success of Democratic legislative pushes on everything from COVID-19 relief and voting-rights legislation to judicial nominations and infrastructure have rested on two lawmakers — Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
With President Joe Biden in the White House and Democrats in control of the House — while also at the helm of the evenly-divided Senate by virtue of Vice President Kamala Harris's tiebreaking vote — the party sought unity to get many of their most ambitious priorities through Congress.
But Manchin and Sinema have presented challenges for Biden and the other 48 members of the Senate Democratic caucus, who have largely stuck together on most of the big votes.
The senators are now increasingly attracting campaign donations from Republican donors who see them as moderating forces holding back what they view as an overly-progressive government, according to a report from The New York Times.
In recent months, both have attended fundraisers hosted by conservative-leaning donors who are virtually absent from most Democratic political circles.
As Manchin led the charge in pruning Biden's roughly $3.5 trillion infrastructure reconciliation framework down to its current price tag closer to $2 trillion this summer, he also reportedly attended a fundraiser at a $18 million mansion in Dallas which brought out GOP donors who were effusive in his efforts, according to The Times.
Sinema, who has also helped dial back some of the administration's most acute legislative goals, went to the same home in September to raise money among similar donors.
In the face of progressive angst directed at Manchin and Sinema, who have so far refused to nix or weaken the filibuster — thus imperiling voting-rights legislation like the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Advancement Act (H.R. 4) — the two senators have attracted the backing of some GOP-aligned donors and financial executives over their ideological stances, despite still being members of the Democratic caucus.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Manchin and Sinema have dashed many progressive hopes
Sinema has gained conservative-leaning financial support due to her objections in raising corporate income tax rates, and Manchin has been one of the party's biggest impediments in expanding the social safety net.
It is not unprecedented for business-aligned donors to give to members of both parties.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a conservative who has been one of the most outspoken critics of former President Donald Trump, has received major contributions from Democratic donors this year.
However, many of the contributions that have been funneled to Sinema and Manchin this year have come from donors who don't have much experience dealing with the Democratic duo, and the funds also come as Biden's Build Back Better Act is still being debated in Congress.
While leading progressives sought to enact a $6 trillion bill earlier this year, their hopes for a larger spending package were dashed after Senate Democrats largely settled on a $3.5 trillion framework before Manchin's opposition to paid-leave provisions and additional measures sliced the bill to its current $2 trillion blueprint.
Recently, the billionaire investor Kenneth Langone, a GOP donor new to Manchin's orbit, told CNBC that the senator had "guts and courage" and pledged to hold "one of the biggest fund-raisers I've ever had for him."
Langone, in a statement to The Times, defended his stance.
"My political contributions have always been in support of candidates who are willing to stand tall on principle, even when that means defying their own party or the press," he said.
Stanley Hubbard, a billionaire Republican donor, donated to Sinema for the first time in September, according to The Times, while also eyeing Manchin's efforts to tamp down Democratic spending proposals.
"Those are two good people — Manchin and Sinema — and I think we need more of those in the Democratic Party," he told The Times.
John LaBombard, a Sinema spokesman, refuted the idea that donations have influenced her governing approach.
"Senator Sinema makes decisions based on one consideration: what's best for Arizona," he told The Times.
Manchin did not respond to requests from The Times regarding the article.
Between January 2019 and September 2020, Sinema raked in $6.1 million in campaign donations, with $4.5 million cash on hand. During the same period, Manchin took in $3.8 million, with $5.4 million cash on hand.
Manchin and Sinema are both up for reelection in 2024 — but they have not yet officially announced their plans.
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