Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Monday blasted Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) over a report that he has not yet decided whether to support the confirmation of Representative Deb Haaland (D., N.M.) for Interior secretary.
“Jeff Sessions was so openly racist that even Reagan couldn’t appoint him,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet referencing former President Trump’s first attorney general. “Manchin voted to confirm him. Sessions then targeted immigrant children for wide-scale human rights abuses w/ family separation. Yet the 1st Native woman to be Cabinet Sec is where Manchin finds unease?”
Jeff Sessions was so openly racist that even Reagan couldn’t appoint him.
Manchin voted to confirm him. Sessions then targeted immigrant children for wide-scale human rights abuses w/ family separation.
Yet the 1st Native woman to be Cabinet Sec is where Manchin finds unease? https://t.co/wyki5iE36Y
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 22, 2021
The “Squad” member’s comments came in response to a report that Manchin was undecided about whether he would support Haaland’s confirmation, with his spokeswoman reportedly telling NBC News that he had met with the New Mexico congresswoman on Zoom to discuss her confirmation but that he had “remaining questions.”
“.@DebHaalandNM is a profound public servant and champion for working families,” Ocasio-Cortez said in another post. “Her appointment as Sec of the Interior would be historic, and her leadership holds the promise of progress for our country. Call your Senator to support her confirmation.”
With the Senate evenly divided between the parties, Manchin, a moderate Democrat who does not always vote along party lines, has taken on newfound power. When Manchin votes no, Democrats need the support of at least one Republican senator for the matter at hand to pass.
The confirmation of Neera Tanden as director of the Office of Management and Budget is appearing increasingly unlikely after Manchin and moderate Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah all signaled they would not back her.
Haaland’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy Committee is scheduled for Tuesday.
Ocasio-Cortez’s comments are just the latest in an ongoing Twitter feud between the progressive New York congresswoman and the moderate West Virginia senator.
The pair spent a month going back-and-forth on Twitter over the summer after the senator criticized calls to defund the police, saying, “Defund, my butt.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded by sharing a photo of herself glaring at Manchin when he applauded President Trump’s second State of the Union address.