The freshman West Virginia Democrat did not vote on a repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which bans gays from openly serving in the military. The Senate voted Saturday to lift the ban, and sent legislation reversing the 17-year-old policy to President Obama, who is expected to sign it into law next week.

Manchin also wasn't with his colleagues to vote on the DREAM Act, which would have helped young people brought to the country illegally become U.S. citizens if they went to college or joined the military. That proposal stalled Saturday.

In an e-mail to the Gazette-Mail, Manchin spokeswoman Sara Payne Scarbro said the senator and his wife, Gayle, had "planned a holiday gathering over a year ago with all their children and grandchildren as they will not all be together on Christmas Day."

"While he regrets missing the votes, it was a family obligation that he just could not break," Payne Scarbro said. "However, he has been clear on where he stands on the issues."

Later Saturday, Payne Scarbro said the family event was in the Pittsburgh area, where Manchin's daughter, Heather Bresch, lives.

In statements issued Saturday, Manchin said he would not support either the immigration bill or a repeal of the military ban on openly gay service members.

He was the only Democrat to oppose reversing the military's policy when the Senate voted on the issue earlier this month. He said Saturday he still has "concerns over timing and implementation" of lifting the ban.

"As such, while I believe the DADT policy will be repealed, and probably should be repealed in the near future, I cannot support a repeal of the policy at this time," he said.

He said he opposes the DREAM Act because it does not require young people seeking citizenship to complete their college degrees.

"Requiring the completion of a degree is exactly what the DREAM Act should be about, as it will help ensure that the young people who qualify have a real chance to fulfill the American Dream and become the productive citizens they aspire to be," he said.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee slammed the former governor for missing the votes.

"I'm sure that most senators, as well as the hundreds of staffers who had to come to work today, would have rather been at a Christmas party like Joe Manchin," NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh said in a statement. "For a senator who has only been on the job a few weeks, Manchin's absence today, and the apparent lack of seriousness with which he takes the job he was elected to do, speaks volumes."

West Virginia's other Democratic senator, Jay Rockefeller, voted in support of the DREAM Act and for repealing DADT.

Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.