Complicated things—like how the federal government allocates more than $6 billion in spending, funding, and appropriations—evolve into axioms over time, leaving everyone involved with a valid explanation for the inexplicable.
“Follow the money” is a universal truth-seeking adage that, when applied to government, leads to the appropriators: the elected officials on the prestigious eponymous committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Which leads to one of the best axioms in all of government: “There are three political parties: the Democrats, the Republicans and the Appropriators.”
There is good reason for the designation beyond mere party affiliation. With direct control over the government’s money spigots, appropriators are among the most influential and crucial members of our representative democracy. Trending on social media and making media hits is enough to get attention, but for the truly savvy and ambitious member of the Legislature, the real power always lies, has always been, and will always be the ability to bring the federal funding firefighting force toward any political hotspot address nationally or at home that are needed. Money is power, and as an appropriator you are responsible for the largest pile of money in the country. Being an appropriator is a much sought after, often contested and often exploited position.
It is therefore noteworthy that the newly elected member Riley Moore, 2nd District of West Virginia has been appointed to the coveted House Appropriations Committee for the upcoming 119th Congress. While it is not uncommon for a freshman member of Congress to be named to the 61-member caucus in a 435-person Congress, the coveted assignment shows someone entering the South Wing of the U.S. Capitol with considerable clout.
West Virginia will now have a number of appropriators in Washington, including Moore’s aunt, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Seat on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Like her House nephew, Capito went straight to appropriations when she first entered the U.S. Senate a decade ago.
Although both are Republicans and open supporters of President-elect Donald Trump while representing a strongly pro-Trump state, there are some notable differences rhetorically. Adjusting the established differences between Senators and House of Representatives, Moore likes to talk about it She goes to Washington to “fight this woke left-wing culture out there,” while Capito typically keeps her choice of words a notch or two above the current buzzwords of the day. There are also likely to be some generational differences in approach, although there is little to no disagreement between them on key issues. Anyone looking for Manchin-like levels of intraparty rebellion for legislative horse-trading will be disappointed.
Rhetoric and politics will always be intertwined, but as an appropriator, the elderly axioms about how Washington, DC works will apply to how the corresponding half of West Virginia’s federal representatives actually do their jobs. Whatever is said on the microphones, in the crowds, in press releases, on social media, the appropriators’ intentions are straightforward to discern by the universal truth-seeking rule: follow the money.
A freshman congressman won’t have the appeal that the fourth-largest Republican in the novel U.S. Senate majority has, but Rep.-elect Moore is already joining Congress at the large funding table. Together, however, West Virginia should be well represented when it comes to awarding funding.
The secret to politics in general, and especially when West Virginia elects someone to federal office in current times, is to rage rhetorically against Washington, D.C., and shake your fist at “they” and “them” in government, while doing so deeply to delve into the matter of joining this government and, on the other hand, to stick our hand as deeply as possible into Uncle Sam’s pocket. The delayed Robert C. Byrd was a master of this tactic and has his name on dozens of these funded items scattered across the state. Outgoing U.S. Senator Joe Manchin learned it, with the added twist of being publicly controversial, which required legislative appeasement. We’re not sure what, if anything, Senator-elect Jim Justice will do committee wise. Representative Carol Miller sits, among other things, on the influential House Ways and Means Committee.
Capito has spent a decade working his way up the ladder of committee assignments and the power structure to be able to do the same. She has quietly become one of the most crucial members of the Republican Senate and, with the incoming majority, will play an crucial role in the legislative battles to come. Moore will now get a chance to see how he brings home money based on how well he handles politics within congressional committees. Merely joining this committee is a sign of influence, but it is now up to him and his performance to carry out his position the way his constituents see and feel.
West Virginia’s electorate is one of the reddest in America, a 180-degree political shift in the last 25 years. While the Republican Party dominates all levels of state government, West Virginia now has two elected officials named to the most powerful political grouping in America in terms of funding. In Washington, the elderly axiom goes, there are three political parties: the Democrats, the Republicans and the Appropriators. Pay close attention to what Capito and Moore do in the future as members of the appropriator class in the vault and track the money that results from their decisions and votes. And judge accordingly.
