FYI:
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Wednesday said he plans to vote against confirming President Trump’s nominee to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
In his statement, Manchin recalled the numerous miner deaths in West Virginia, including 12 so far this year.
Trump tapped David Zatezalo for the job earlier this month. Zatezalo is a retired former executive of Rhino Resources, which had frequent run-ins with MSHA for alleged safety violations during his tenure.
“While I appreciate Mr. Zatezalo’s willingness to serve, I cannot support his confirmation to lead MSHA,” Manchin said in his statement.
“After reviewing his qualifications and record of safety during his time in the coal industry, I am not convinced that Mr. Zatezalo is suited to oversee the federal agency that implements and enforces mine safety laws and standards.”
Manchin has voted for pretty much all of Trump’s nominees except Betsy DeVos. While I’m not a fan of him, I can understand and support his decision to come out against Zatezalo’s nomination:
MSHA is the branch of the Labor Department responsible for inspecting mines for health and safety hazards and investigating miners’ injuries and deaths. As assistant labor secretary for mine safety and health, Zatezalo would ultimately decide how aggressively MSHA will police the nation’s mines and punish coal operators who flout the law.
No one can accuse Zatezalo of being unfamiliar with how the agency he would run operates.
As the Charleston Gazette-Mail’s Ken Ward Jr. reported, Zatezalo was an executive at Rhino when the company butted heads repeatedly with MSHA during the Obama administration. After several documented safety lapses, the agency issued what’s known as a “pattern of violations” warning to one of Rhino’s mines, ordering the company to get its act together or face more penalties. Not long after, a miner was killed at the mine when part of a wall collapsed, leading to $44,500 in fines.
MSHA also took the rare step of issuing an injunction against another Rhino mine when it found out the company’s employees were tipping off miners underground ahead of inspections, in hopes of avoiding penalties. The same practice occurred at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch, the West Virginia mine where 31 miners were killed in an explosion in 2010.
And if Manchin is against him, it might influence other Democrats to follow his lead:
Two Senate Democrats are seeking more information on the mine safety violations by a company owned by President Trump’s nominee to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
David Zatezalo was an executive at coal-mining company Rhino Resources from 2007 to 2014, a time when the company had frequent clashes with MSHA.
During that time, the company received two rare “pattern of violations” letters from the regulator, a miner was killed in a company mine, the MSHA fined and cited the company, it sought a court injunction after employees allegedly gave colleagues advance notice of inspections, and more, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Zatezalo has since retired from Rhino and Trump nominated him earlier this month to lead the agency, alarming Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.).
With Manchin hailing from a coal country and a state that overwhelming went to Trump, he’s been sounding like he has more room to breath and oppose Trump some more. Even though he’s one of the top targets for the GOP, Manchin isn’t sounding like he’s too scared of his chances of losing his re-election bid. With friends like this guy, I don’t blame him:
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice handed President Donald Trump a big PR boost this summer when he jumped from the Democrats to the Republicans. But now Justice won’t commit to supporting his new party’s eventual nominee in his state’s closely watched upcoming Senate race.
Justice declined to make such a pledge when asked for one during a party gathering Monday night in Charleston, two Republicans who were in the room told BuzzFeed News.
“He said positive things about the Republicans who were running,” West Virginia GOP Chairman Conrad Lucas said. But Justice also noted his “long-standing friendship” with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, whom many national Republicans would love to unseat.
Lucas and another source who attended the meeting of about 80 party leaders and activists said Justice indicated he would follow Trump’s lead with regard to the Senate race.
“His answer may as well have been, ‘Fuck you, no,’” the second source said.
Stay tuned.