WASHINGTON — Jim Justice, West Virginia’s new Republican senator, is immediately recognizable in the Capitol, standing 6-feet-7 and cruising around the complex on a bright red mobility scooter, never far from his 62-pound bulldog, Babydog.
However, unlike his predecessor, he is unlikely to begin his term in Washington as a vital swing vote.
Justice succeeded Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin, who was one of the most powerful — and unexpected — members of the Senate. Manchin frequently angered his party by disagreeing with Democrats on crucial issues, but he was also a bipartisan dealmaker who helped negotiate significant legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided funds for projects in his state.
So far, Justice appears to be more willing to follow the lead of his party’s leader, who, like him, won West Virginia by more than 40 points in November.
“At the end of the day,” Justice remarked, President Donald Trump “will make the right decision.”
However, he was categorical that he will not support everything Trump wants to achieve, stating he intends to analyze Trump’s agenda piece by piece while referring to him as a personal friend and a “good man” who “cares” about the American people.
“I did not come here to be a rubber stamp. If you wanted that, you could simply get Babydog to vote all the time, right?” Justice stated in an interview, pointing to his drooling buddy sitting on a chair next to him. “But at the same time, I’m going to be very supportive, because my values are conservative values.”
He defended the Trump administration’s broad freeze on foreign and domestic aid, the latter of which could undoubtedly damage his state, one of the poorest in the nation.
“The way you tackle a problem is first of all, you freeze everything, you stop everything for a period of time where you can really get your hands around it and make the right decisions,” he said, adding that West Virginians are “not confused” about the halted programs and that they trust and support Trump, who received 70% of the vote in November.
“Do you honestly believe that President Trump will take away children’s free lunches? There is no way. “There is no possibility,” he insisted.
“I really am a commonsense guy, all about reason and logic,” Mr. Justice added. “I am going to be courteous of both sides of the aisle all the time. I will be the guy who believes that, at the end of the day, Washington, in so many ways, requires what I am talking about.”
Justice won the governorship as a Democrat in 2016, but switched parties the next year. Prior to his eight-year term as governor, he was renowned as the heir of Bluestone Coal Company in West Virginia. When he ran for Senate, he promised to increase American energy production.
“Energy is our best defense mechanism,” he added, recognizing that Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China “could” harm West Virginia, whose biggest exports are coal and petroleum.
With the departures of Manchin and other moderate dealmakers such as Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema and Utah’s Mitt Romney, the Senate will lose some of its most notable regular aisle crossers after 2024. Justice was approached by Republican leadership to run for Manchin’s seat, but he stated on Tuesday that he “would have gladly been the governor of West Virginia for 10 more terms if I could live that long.”
Some of Trump’s initiatives may pose problems back home. West Virginia has one of the highest Medicare beneficiary rates in the country, and prospective cuts to entitlements to fund border security and tax cuts might have a big impact on the state’s aging population.
Justice stated that he does not believe cutbacks to Medicare and Social Security are being considered.
“I really believe that it’s almost impossible to cut your way out of a problem,” he told me. “As far as making just wholesale cuts on things that people really, really depend on, I don’t think it’ll ever happen.”
When asked if he would vote against cuts to programs that his constituents rely on, Justice responded, “We’ll see.”
“If we’re just cutting in the bone to cut in the bone, I’m not there,” he claimed. “But if we’re eliminating just waste, I’m there 100%.”
Trump’s executive orders halting the delivery of cash under the Biden-era Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act could have far-reaching consequences for West Virginia, which got millions from the laws Manchin won.
When Justice was governor, he established ARCH2, a hydrogen energy hub, using a $925 million federal investment awarded to his state under the Inflation Reduction Act. The Appalachian hub is estimated to generate 18,000 jobs for the state.
Trump has also proposed eliminating the entire legislation, but Justice, who supports “all forms” of energy, stated, “I really believe that President Trump will make the right moves.”
“He’ll make the appropriate moves on the chess board, but we need to allow him some time to get his bearings. “You can’t get your arms around a moving target,” he explained.
Justice has been in the Senate for less than two weeks and has already missed two votes, both on amendments to the Laken Riley Act. Justice explained his absences on being new to Washington and unaware of the voting.
“The votes I missed, you know, I think we were new at what we were doing here. It’s difficult to believe that no one on my staff knew the voting were going to take place; otherwise, I’d have been there. “I had no idea,” he replied.
Attendance concerns are not new to Justice. When he was governor, he refused to live in the state capital, Charleston, which violated the state constitution and resulted in a lawsuit.
Justice stated that he is not interested in receiving “a gold star” for perfect attendance at his new job. Instead, he stated that he is focused on achieving outcomes for his state.
“I don’t sit there in Charleston and collect gold stars. I’m out among the people because I believe they are the ones that need me the most,” he explained.
“I love West Virginia and our people more than words can express, but at the end of the day, I’m content with being a patriot. I don’t need a hot tip, the next invitation to the Oval Office, or the next invitation to a big party, or anything. “I don’t want anything for myself,” he added.
Justice, 73, pledged to finish out his full term and even mentioned seeking for re-election: “I’m going to do it.” You know, as long as the good Lord grants me the opportunity to remain here.”
As for Babydog, Justice has no plans to draft legislation that would allow the 5-year-old bulldog, who eats the same foods as him (including chicken nuggets and steak and egg biscuits), to join him on the Senate floor to vote.
Babydog “loves everybody,” Justice stated. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Black or white or rich or poor — God forbid, a Republican or Democrat — she loves everybody.”
