West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin registers as an independent
CNN
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a longtime Democrat, announced on Friday that he is registering as an independent.
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a longtime Democrat, announced on Friday that he is registering as an independent. “Our national politics are broken and neither party is willing to compromise to find common ground,” Manchin, who has long been a pivotal swing vote in the Senate, said in a statement. “To stay true to myself and remain committed to put country before party, I have decided to register as an independent with no party affiliation and continue to fight for America’s sensible majority.” CNN has reached out to Manchin’s office to ask if he will still caucus with Democrats. This story is breaking and will be updated.
Investigators are intensifying their search into what caused the collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, with recovery crews still working to pull wreckage from the Potomac River and initial concerns already raised about the path of at least one of the aircraft.
The Trump administration is set to expand a purge of career law enforcement officials, with dozens of FBI agents who investigated January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack and Trump-related investigations as well as some supervisors being evaluated for possible removal as soon as the end of Friday, according to people briefed on the matter.