According to the Washington Examiner, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted against three of U.S. President Joe Biden's nominees this past week. 

This includes Biden's nomination of Danny Werfel to be the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Biden's nomination of Laura Daniel-Davis to be the assistant secretary of the Department of Interior, and Biden's nomination of Gigi Sohn to be the commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Manchin's opposition to Sohn, in particular, has caused quite a stir. Sohn decided to drop out of the running afterward.

Manchin explained his opposition to Biden's nominees in an op-ed that he has written for the Houston Chronicle.

Manchin explains

Manchin titled his op-ed, "Biden admin. panders to climate activists. I won't support their nominees." The title just about sums up the article.

Manchin writes, "going forward, each and every proposed nominee I will review will be judged through one prism: Are they political partisans first or Americans first?"

Manchin explains why he opposed Werfel, writing:

For example, the Department of Treasury has grossly mishandled the implementation of the electric vehicle tax credits designed to curtail China’s dominance over this critical industry. Instead of abiding by the law, the department pandered to climate activists. With this in mind, I was unable to support Danny Werfel, the administration’s nominee to serve as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

And, regarding his opposition of Daniel-Davis, he writes:

Daniel-Davis approved higher royalty rates for the Alaskan Cook Inlet sale, which were explicitly designed to decrease fossil energy production at the expense of our energy security. Even though I supported her in the past, I cannot, in good conscience, support her or anyone else who will play partisan politics and agree with this misguided and dangerous manipulation of the law.

Manchin didn't speak in the op-ed about his opposition to Sohn, but one gets the idea that the reasoning is similar.

Manchin 2024

With moves like this - and the fact that Manchin may be working with congressional Republicans on an energy bill - many are beginning to wonder whether Manchin has his sights set on the White House - whether he might be trying to position himself for a bid at the U.S. presidency in 2024.

Manchin claims that he is not.

"I’m just trying to do the right thing," he said. "I’m just trying to get things implemented. The country desperately needs energy security. If you can’t implement a bill that basically is all about national security … it’s bulls***.”

It's up to you to judge for yourself what Manchin is up to.

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) opined, "[Manchin is] running for something. I don’t know what it is."