U.S. Senator Joe Manchin is taking heat today for allegedly skipping a roll call vote on Wednesday that sought to defund federal implementation of ObamaCare.
Senator Manchin, in a press release, says he missed the vote because he was attending his cousin’s funeral and visiting his ill mother.
According to a release from the West Virginia Republican Party, Manchin was not officially excused from the vote, in which he was reported as “Not Voting.”
In their release, the GOP states Manchin had a 48-hour window of ZERO official Senate business in which to attend to family matters.
According to the release, from 5:30 PM on Monday until 5:30 PM on Wednesday, Manchin’s whereabouts are unclear. Manchin gave no excuse for his absence in the Senate record as requested according to the GOP
The state Senate voted to defeat the Cruz Amendment which would have prohibited further Federal funds to ObamaCare implementation.
Republican Chairman Conrad Lucas in the release said the party owes Manchin and his family the proper courtesy in their time of need, however Manchin owes it to the taxpayers to cast his vote on the important issues.
“The Senator has made a habit of waffling on tough issues,” said Lucas. “Skipping yet another ObamaCare vote seems standard in his habitual fence-sitting.”
The GOP release continues by stating Manchin returned three hours later to vote on another amendment on the same bill he skipped earlier. The GOP said he “conveniently missed” the Cruz Amendment vote.
In his own release,Senator Manchin said the GOP lied to West Virginians about him saying he was “present” for the vote.
Manchin continued by saying this “represents the most disgusting part of politics and a perfect example of why reaching bipartisanship and commonsense solutions to the problems our state and nation face have become so difficult,”
“The West Virginia Republican Party would be wise to check their facts next time before they lie about my record and lie to the people of West Virginia,” said Manchin.