WASHINGTON D.C. — Second District Congressman-elect Riley Moore has been appointed to the House Appropriations Committee.
On MetroNewsTalkline,” Moore said he’s looking forward to getting funding for important projects in West Virginia while trying to cut government spending. His aunt, Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and did so for many years.
“We have a long history of appropriators in West Virginia, and I’m happy to carry on that tradition,” Moore said. “At the same time, while trying to right-size our federal budget and expenditures and everything else going on, it’s a real honor.”
Moore said our state should be recognized for the economic impact we provide to the Gross National Product and the security our reliable energy sources provide.
“I am there to prioritize and make sure West Virginia gets highlighted given how important we are as a state to the energy economy of the United States—we’re the fifth largest energy producer,” Moore said. “And really fight for West Virginia.”
Moore said he believes the debt limit should be suspended while President-Elect Trump begins to enact his financial policies. Failure to do so could disrupt his initial progress and could create negative public sentiment back home, where 70 percent of the electorate supported Trump in November.
“His first 100 days are going to be so critical to the success of his administration, and we don’t have time to be messing around with this brinkmanship when he has a mandate, and we have to go out there and fulfill that mandate,” Moore said.
The current deal to suspend the debt limit until January 1, 2025, was reached last year between then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden. The treasury will continue to be able to pay the bills of the nation, but Congress must act by mid-year.
Trump has called the deal “one of the dumbest decisions in years” and is calling on Joe Biden and the Democrats to address the issue now, not after Republicans assume power.
“President Trump and his team have been asking for that since they won the general election,” Moore said. “I think there is some miscommunication going on in terms of priorities and between the administration and leadership, but I think those lines of communication are becoming a lot stronger.”
Moore said he supports Mike Johnson (R, La.) to continue as Speaker of the House of Representatives but said that could quickly change. The election for speaker will be held on Friday.
“If we wake up, or I get off this call with you and 30 minutes later President-elect Trump issues a statement saying the speaker no longer has my confidence to serve in that role, then you’re going to have a bunch of people coming out to run for Speaker of the House,” Moore said.