Capito and Justice on Medicaid cuts

It’s simple math: to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts to the rich, other programs must face major cuts.
For Republicans, that will usually mean that social programs become the target. Here is how Henry Culvyhouse from Mountain State Spotlight explained it:

Last weekend, Capito and Justice voted to move along a budget plan that would require $880 billion in cuts over the next decade, largely to Medicaid.

When offered an amendment to prevent those cuts, the two Republicans voted with their party against it. Had they switched their votes, it could’ve stopped the cuts.

The article notes that the West Virginia cuts would be the largest in the nation (by percentage).

According to Culvyhouse, Capito and Justice’s offices did not reply to a request for comment.

On mine safety cutbacks

Earlier this month, the Trump administration made major cuts to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. (See two posts down.) According to West Virginia Watch, Capito told reporters:

. . . . that she had “strong disagreements” with DOGE’s cuts in the state, specifically at NIOSH. She said she planned to talk to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the cuts, but no further announcements on the subject have been made.

Capito may have talked to Kennedy, but I could find no reaction or changes by the Trump administration on coal miner safety. I did find that, like her nephew (see previous post), Senator Capito was more than willing to accept praise from Trump at his coal rally last week:

Thanks for standing up for West Virginia coal, @POTUS! pic.twitter.com/yhNlqWCRUD

— Shelley Moore Capito (@SenCapito) April 8, 2025

As for Senator Justice, the senator has had nothing to say about the NIOSH layoffs. Given the safety violations at the Justice-owned mines, that is not surprising. Recently, for instance:

Two coal companies owned by Jim Justice must pay delinquent mine safety fines by May 1 or face contempt. Additional sanctions are possible, including jail for company officers. https://t.co/bOx1siXiNt

— Curtis L. Tate 🤷‍♂️ (@tatecurtis) March 5, 2025

Additional Justice stories

Fentanyl

I see that Justice is the lead sponsor of S.1295:

A bill to require the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to develop and implement a strategy to interdict fentanyl and other synthetic drugs in the mail at Federal correctional facilities.

As of this morning, the bill had a title but no text associated with it. Just a hunch: I don’t think this bill is going anywhere. Justice can now say, however, that he has sponsored fentanyl legislation.

More importantly, Justice is "rolling up his sleeves" for Bitcoin

Yes, really:

I look forward to the buy in from inside and outside Washington on Bitcoin and it’s potential to keep us safe and prosperous as a country.

We all have work to do.

I, for one, will be rolling my sleeves up and pitching in to make @realDonaldTrump's vision for Bitcoin a reality.

— Senator Jim Justice (@JimJustice_WV) April 8, 2025

Of course, nothing is probably nearer and dearer to the hearts of West Virginians than bitcoin. (Just kidding.) Regardless, West Virginia’s junior senator is a co-sponsor of the Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) ACT.

And just last week, Justice is credited with an article at Bitcoin magazine in which he lays out “his vision of Bitcoin’s place in America.” Justice concluded the article by again telling us that he “will be rolling my sleeves up and pitching in to make Donald Trump's vision for Bitcoin a reality.” (If you believe that Justice personally labored long and hard on this article, I have a bridge in Benwood that I can sell you real cheap.)

Jim Justice and Bitcoin? How did that happen? Please check Justice’s 2024 Senate campaign contributions at Open Secrets and you will find that the $3 million that Justice received from Bitcoin was easily the single largest contribution to his senate campaign by any source.

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