In one of his first actions as West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that were connected to the state. Last month, in what was a predictable follow-up, Morrisey announced that state employees would be required to work on Juneteenth (June 19), a federal holiday that celebrates the end of slavery. As the governor’s deputy press secretary stated at the time:

“Governor Morrisey will be formally recognizing Juneteenth with an official proclamation recognizing the significance of the day and will encourage all West Virginians to take a moment to commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S.,” Galang said. “Due to the continued fiscal challenges facing West Virginia, state government will not be sponsoring any formal activities.”

Consequently, state workers worked a normal day on June 19. But, in less than three weeks, those fiscal challenges apparently disappeared:

#ICYMI Governor Patrick Morrisey announced that state employees in West Virginia will be excused from work on Thursday, July 3, 2025, for an extended weekend to celebrate America’s founding.https://t.co/8SWm1FAGYg

— Lootpress (@lootpress) July 2, 2025

(Of course, everyone knows the importance of July 3.) What a hypocrite!

Down with DEI, up with nepotism

Following those same DEI lines, the Trump administration continues to claim they always hire the most qualified person, regardless of race, sex, or creed, for whatever position is available. (Just look at his cabinet!) Along those lines, the Trump administration announced yesterday who would be appointed to the U.S. attorney positions for WV’s northern and southern districts.

Here is WV’s Senator Shelley Moore Capito explaining:

Thrilled and extremely proud that @POTUS has chosen two stellar candidates to be West Virginia's U.S. Attorneys, Matt Harvey in the Northern District and Moore Capito in the Southern District. I look forward to supporting their quick confirmations so they can get to work on…

— Shelley Moore Capito (@SenCapito) July 1, 2025

Is Moore Capito related to Shelley? (She doesn’t say so in her post and for non-West Virginians, Moore is her son.) And it’s probably just a coincidence that the Senate voted yesterday on Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" at about the same time that this appointment was announced.

I was unaware that Moore was an attorney (I thought he was like his mother, a career politician) and so I researched his qualifications. Here is what his law firm, Babst Calland, highlights:

Moore Capito is a shareholder in the Corporate and Commercial, Emerging Technologies, and Energy and Natural Resources groups of Babst Calland. Mr. Capito represents publicly-traded and privately-held clients in corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as business structuring, governance, commercial contracts, and real estate transactions.

Mr. Capito has substantial experience in all phases of complex corporate, commercial and real estate transactions. . . .

Prior to joining Babst Calland, Mr. Capito served as in-house counsel for one of the largest independent oil and gas production and midstream companies in West Virginia and the Appalachian Basin.

Going beyond Babst Calland, I could not find anything (nor could Google’s AI) to suggest that Capito has done any work in criminal law. Curious, I asked Google’s AI if criminal prosecution is a requirement for the job of U.S. Attorney? It replied that it is not an absolute necessity and concluded:

However, it is highly common for USAs to have a background in criminal law and prosecution. This is because the prosecution of criminal cases is one of the main responsibilities of a USA's office.

It seems to me that West Virginia is demonstrating one of the uses for the anti-DEI movement; it's simply a means to the end of bringing back the old system of hiring the most well-connected white guy available regardless of his qualifications. (And Trump’s special contribution to this cause has been having the candidate sign a pledge of loyalty as the first requirement.) Thus, Moore Capito became a perfect fit for Trump. Somewhere Arch Moore is smiling.