West Virginia Governor and Senator-elect Jim Justice declined Friday to comment on whether he supports President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial pick for Cabinet secretaries.
Trump on Thursday announced his nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic and critic of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to head the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
He also has selected Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Fox News host Pete Hegseth, a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as defense secretary and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security State Security Appointed Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and Sen. Marco Rubio as State Secretary.
Gaetz was the subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation that concluded in 2023, when the Gov did not file a complaint. Hegseth was Reportedly investigated in 2017 for an alleged sexual assault in a California hotel.
Trumps Nominations are subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
“I think it is premature for me to comment on this [on the nominations]“said Justice during his Regular administrative meeting on Friday mornings. “Of course, I really support President Trump and I’m sure his people are really evaluating and vetting the appointments and whatever you want to call it, and from that standpoint we’ll do the same thing in the Senate. I will do the same.”
Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia told reporters Thursday that she was willing to consider Trump’s nomination of GaetzTulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
Justice emphasized Friday that Trump needs people in his Cabinet who he can count on and who will be faithful to him.
“You will make mistakes,” Trump said. “But at the end of the day, if he has the right team, a team that he can really work with and everything that he can work really well with, it will be a better thing for all of us.”
The judge also said it would be “much, much premature” to comment on how he would vote if Trump again tries to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a monumental health law that provides health insurance to more than 200,000 West Virginia residents.
Trump tried to repeal the health care law in his first term. Trump and Republican leaders have sent mixed messages about whether they would push to repeal the law this term.
“Let’s just take a few deep breaths and see what’s really coming,” Justice said.
The judiciary has been calling Trump a final straw for years Friend. He has gone on hunting trips with the Trump family and himself stood up for him before the election. The judge said Friday he believes Trump will be able to “set the country on the right path.”
“What you can expect from me, no matter who it concerns, I will be objective and fair and I will at all times try with all my might to protect the people of the great state of West Virginia,” Justice said.
During the briefing, Justice also expressed frustration that the state high school football playoffs have been postponed for at least a week while the state Supreme Court decides What to do about legal challenges from county school systems over school reclassifications before the end of the football season?
Justice said the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission “needs to get its act together.”
“The core of the whole thing is that we need incredible transparency, but we need people to stand up and say, ‘These are the guidelines.’ This is what we put together and these are the guidelines and this is what we’re going to do,'” Justice said.
In other matters, Justice overturned a nationwide ban on burning he issued the order earlier this month because of drought conditions that led to an increased risk of wildfires.
