Joe Manchin’s Wife, Gayle, Has Her Own Conflicts of Interest
Gayle Manchin, wife of West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, helps lead a commission that distributes federal infrastructure grants. That commission recently awarded $1.5 million to a nonprofit tied to her business partner.
Joe Manchin’s wife, Gayle (left), cochairs a commission that distributes federal infrastructure grants across thirteen states, including West Virginia. (Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for the New Yorker)
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) isn’t the only Manchin in government mixing politics and business.
The corporate Democrat spent the past year grabbing headlines for obstructing his party’s agenda, in particular gutting and ultimately blocking climate legislation that would impact the fossil fuel industry in which he and his family made their fortune. Last week, for example, he vowed to block progressive nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin from the Federal Reserve due to her willingness to factor climate science into the Fed’s monetary policy.
Far less attention has been afforded to the senator’s wife, Gayle Manchin, a former West Virginia secretary of education, who in March 2021 was appointed by President Joe Biden to cochair a commission that distributes federal infrastructure grants across thirteen states, including West Virginia.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.