Justice Will Delay Senate Swearing-In, Remain Governor Until Morrisey’s Inauguration

Gov. Jim Justice confirmed during his regular briefing Thursday afternoon he will remain governor until Jan. 13, when governor-elect Patrick Morrisey will be sworn into the office.

Justice said he will forgo being sworn in as a U.S. Senator on Jan. 3 to ensure a seamless transition of power. Questions of who would hold the executive office of the state have swirled since the election in November. A leading theory had as many as four people holding the position over the 10-day period. The office would have shifted from Justice to state Senate President Craig Blair,R – Berkeley, when Justice swore his oath of office to the Senate, before shifting over to the new Senate President – expected to be Sen. Randy Smith, R – Tucker, – on Jan. 10 and finally settling with Morrisey upon his inauguration Jan. 13.

“I don’t think that West Virginia needs to have four governors in 10 days,” Justice said. “I don’t think that should happen, and I really believe this, whether I’m right or wrong. I believe this with all my soul. The people of West Virginia elected me to this office, and they expected me to do right by them. Always, I’ve tried to do that. And I think that I’m doing right by them right now, because absolutely, it has been an honor beyond belief, being their governor.”

Justice said he is in constant contact with President-elect Donald Trump and does not believe there will be any major Senate action for him to miss before Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20. Justice said he has also been in discussion with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who released the following statement shortly after the announcement:

“I very much respect Governor Justice’s decision to honor his commitment to complete his term as Governor of the State of West Virginia,” Capito said. “I am looking forward to serving with Senator Justice as there is much to do to advance President Trump’s agenda on behalf of all West Virginians.”

Justice also said he has spoken with Sen. John Thune, R-SD, who currently serves as Minority Whip but is poised to become Senate Majority Leader in January.

“Sen. Thune is really a good man,” Justice said. “He’s going to do a great job as our leader and everything, and we had this discussion. And at the end of the day, I think you’ll find that everyone totally understands the complexities and everything, and totally understands that, and is very supportive of this is what I should do.”

Justice said he hopes to get “a bunch of things” done in his remaining 18 days in office, and is prepared to continue his service to the people of West Virginia in Washington, D.C. He announced his Senate committee assignments last week, which include the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Aging Committee. Asked about the assignments Thursday, Justice said they are “home run picks” for him.

“I really need to be on the Energy Committee,” Justice said. “You know, that’s all there is to it because I’ve got a wealth of knowledge in regard to energy and whether it be, for our gas workers or our coal miners or whatever I would tell you, as I’ve told President Trump over and over, and we agree, we agree 1,000 percent in this, that energy is everything.”

Regarding the assignment to Agriculture, Justice pointed to his experience with his company Bluestone and for Aging, he simply pointed to his track record.

“In speaking very, very strongly, I said, ‘Judge me by my deeds’ over and over, and I’ve stood rock solid in trying to help our seniors, trying to help our folks in every way I can,” Justice said. “I was tickled to death because you don’t really know at the end of the day where they’re going to put you, those are my selections and everything. And I was tickled to death with all four of them, tell you the truth.”

Nucor Funding

At the start of his briefing, Justice briefly discussed the approval of an additional $75 million for the site of a Nucor steel plant in Mason County announced last week. That is in addition to the $800 million Nucor has committed to the project, which Justice called the largest in state and company history.

“When all this kicks in, and it’s going to kick in soon, when all this kicks in, the number of jobs, the property taxes, everything will happen because of this, in unbelievable investment by this incredible company in Mason County, West Virginia,” he said. “It will be transformational in every way. And this is another great addition. They’re expanding before they’ve even gotten done. You know, it is un-flat-believable.”

Construction is under way at the 1,700-acre Apple Grove site. When it becomes operational, the plant will employ as many as 800 workers and produce sheet steel for the automotive and construction industries.

In a press release Dec. 20, West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin criticized the new money on top of an existing commitment of $315 million in state funds as “a staggering amount representing 8 percent of West Virginia’s General Revenue Budget.”

“This is a slap in the face to every teacher, public employee, first responder, and retiree in West Virginia,” Pushkin said. “Governor Justice is handing nearly $400 million of our tax dollars to one of the wealthiest corporations in America while telling public employees they have to dig deeper into their own pockets to pay for health insurance. It’s outrageous, it’s wrong, and it’s a clear statement of who Jim Justice thinks deserves a helping hand — and it’s not working West Virginians.”