Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that he expects Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to accept a job in the Trump administration if offered one, but predicted that Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., would not, and will remain in the Senate for the 115th Congress.
“Manchin, of course, is running for a part in the Trump administration, so maybe that’s the way he got the door open,” Reid said on CNN.
“I have no idea what they’re going to do,” Reid added. “I just know Heidi Heitkamp, I would doubt very seriously, she being the populist that she is, that she would do that.”
Manchin has called Reid’s post-election comments an “embarrassment,” but Reid said senators can say what they want. “Every one of my caucus members has a right to say what they want to say,” Reid said.
The comments came only hours before Manchin arrived in New York to meet with Trump amid speculation that he is in line to become the next energy secretary.
Both Manchin and Heitkamp are up for re-election, and Republicans are hopeful to flip both of those seats. However, their task could become much more simple if one or both end up in the Trump administration. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Cory Gardner, the incoming chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, reportedly met with Rep. Ryan Cramer, R-N.D., late last week about a potential open seat if Heitkamp joins the administration.
If Heitkamp leaves the Senate, it would force a special election within 95 days, which Cramer is eyeing. Cramer has also been looking toward a potential matchup against Heitkamp in 2018.
