WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has spent the year opposing much of President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Capito, who began her second Senate term in January, holds multiple positions that differ from the president, including stances on energy and the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Yet Capito has also had opportunities to speak to Biden and his team in hopes of moving bills through Congress. She led negotiations between Republicans and the White House on infrastructure and collaborated with Democratic colleagues in passing what would become the foundation of the final measure.
During an interview with MetroNews, Capito discussed her objections to the Biden administration’s policies and her efforts balancing opposition and bipartisanship.
The senator noted she finds Biden’s approach to working with legislators an improvement from past administrations.
“To the president’s credit, he’s an old senator,” she said while sitting in her Capitol Hill office. “He wants to negotiate with senators. He wants to have a deal in some of these areas. I feel like our working relationship with him and his staff is very good, and I think open doors are always great.”
Ahead of Biden becoming president in January, Capito said she wanted to serve as a check to him while also working across the aisle. Democrats have control of the 50-50 Senate, making it easy for Senate Republicans to block Democrats’ legislative goals due to the chamber’s 60-vote requirement on most bills. The Senate has failed to pass voting legislation this year, for instance, because of Republican objections toward advancing relevant bills.
A prominent item of disagreement between Biden and Capito regards energy; the senator has been critical of the administration’s actions, including revoking the Keystone XL pipeline permit and returning the United States to the Paris climate accord. She voted against confirming Michael Regan as Environmental Protection Agency administrator and Jennifer Granholm as energy secretary because of Biden’s executive actions and climate change plans the senator has described as “virtue signaling.”
Capito mentioned other differences during the interview, arguing the Biden administration has failed to adequately address issues regarding migration numbers at the southern border and describing the evacuation from Afghanistan as humiliating for the country.
She joined Republican colleagues in sponsoring legislation opposing the Biden administration’s mandate on coronavirus vaccines and testing.
“Many of us, if not all of us, every time we have the opportunity are encouraging folks in our state [to get vaccinated] for their own protection,” she said during a Dec. 8 press conference alongside fellow Republicans. “Encouraging and requiring are two different things.”
The Senate approved the bill in a 52-48 vote with Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana joining Republicans. The House of Representatives has yet to consider the measure.
Capito has sought common ground with the White House; she took part in a meeting in the first days of Biden’s presidency regarding a coronavirus relief measure. Ten Republican senators proposed a $618 billion legislative framework, but the White House opted to back a $1.9 trillion bill.
The Republican proposal included $1,000 coronavirus relief checks and an extension of the $300 unemployment payments through June. The approved legislation had $1,400 payments and an extension of unemployment payments to early October.
“The White House basically said they were going to go their own way and make it a straight party-line vote, so our ideas were basically not considered,” she told MetroNews in March.
Capito later led Republicans in negotiations with the White House on infrastructure in hopes of reaching a deal. Capito’s leadership came as she assumed the role of ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which reviews measures on the environment, pollution and infrastructure. The committee helped establish a framework for a bill when senators approved measures on water infrastructure and surface transportation amid discussions.
Capito credited her relationship with Committee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., as a reason for the body’s success.
“We had unanimous votes on both surface transportation and on water. I’m just proud of the bipartisan work we were able to do, and we did it the old-fashioned way. We basically sat down at a table with our staffs and hashed out where our difference were. We asked every member for input so we could satisfy our members,” the senator added. “That’s the way, I think, you get good bipartisan legislation.”
Capito and other senators met with Biden and other White House officials in February, and Capito was eventually in charge of talks about a physical infrastructure proposal.
“I really felt like we could get something done together as Republicans and Democrats, and the president really picked up my desire and my framework and said bring a group in and start to hash it out,” she said.
Senate Republicans worked toward an agreement, proposing an eight-year $928 billion proposal while the White House reduced its plan from $2.3 trillion to $1.7 trillion. Both sides ended negotiations in June without a deal.
“The president was very up-front with me as I was with him. We knew that our negotiations were slowing,” she said in reflection.
A bipartisan group of senators would reach a deal with the White House, and the Senate passed the $1.2 trillion measure in August. The House of Representatives approved the bill in November.
Capito served as a floor manager and helped move the legislation through the Senate as part of the amendment process.
“The other group came in and basically took the framework of what I had put forward, added more money to it and negotiated from there,” Capito said of the process.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act dedicates $550 billion in new spending toward various projects, including the replacement of lead water pipes and broadband expansion. West Virginia will receive billions of dollars because of the law, including $3 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs; $506 million for bridge replacement and repairs; $487 million for improving water systems; and a minimum of $100 million for providing broadband to thousands of residents without internet access.
“Do I have hurt feelings on it? In the end, had I not been there, it would never have happened because it wouldn’t have gotten started and it wouldn’t have ended,” Capito said. “My committee, my staff, me and others had to negotiate the very fine details at the very end. While we started it, we also finished it.”
When Biden signed the legislation last month on the White House lawn, Capito was standing behind him.
Following the infrastructure bill becoming law, the Biden administration’s attention shifted toward getting its $1.75 trillion domestic policy proposal through Congress. Talks continued as the White House tried to secure the support of Democrats including Manchin, who rejected the plan on Sunday.
Capito described the Build Back Better Act as “reckless tax increases and spending” with provisions lacking determined needs.
“I think there are certain things in there — paid family leave, child care, early childhood education, care for our elderly — that we need to look at, but we need to look at them in the whole, not ram a program through by one party because these are things of the future,” she said. “We have a different working environment, we have different families that faced the pandemic different, and I think the realization is how do they want to work.”
Capito added there is a loose group of senators discussing paid family leave and there is an opportunity for bipartisan agreement.
“I can see the tremendous benefits of having weeks off after the baby is born so they can meld together as a family. If there is one thing we need to do in this country, it’s solidify that family structure. Particularly, maternity and paternity leave is something we need to look at,” she said.
Republican senators criticized the Build Back Better Act’s provisions on child care. Capito joined lawmakers last week in a press conference arguing the proposal could negatively affect faith-based services and cause child-care costs to increase.
Capito’s attempts to find common ground with the Biden administration have not erased any pressure from back home; when asked about a telephone town hall with residents of southern West Virginia, Capito let out an exhausted sigh.
“It was the first time where I had a call like that where you could hear the anxiety in people’s voices,” she said.
Capito described the callers as feeling left behind by economic changes and stressed by inflation.
“It’s one of uncertainty, it’s a concern for the future,” she added. “It’s an erosion of confidence in the president — not so much with him as a person or so much his personality or anything — it’s his policies. You could really hear it in people’s voices.”
Capito recognized 29.7% of West Virginia voters supported Biden in the 2020 presidential election, but she said West Virginians are focused on “kitchen table issues.” She mentioned she is willing to work with and challenge Biden as necessary.
“I’ve been very vocal in my opposition,” she said, “but it hasn’t really spoiled my ability — because I’ve done it respectfully, I think — to interact with the administration.”