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Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., is leading the effort to make budget cuts, initiated by the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, legal.
This is an undated contributed photo of former West Virginia Treasurer and current U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va.
Courtesy photo
Moore, a freshman Congressman who represents the northern half of the state, was tapped to lead the new work group billed as the “tip of the spear†for getting the cuts approved by Congress.
Earlier this month, Moore helped usher through a bill that cut $9.4 billion from foreign aid and public broadcasting. It is now pending in the U.S. Senate.
“The American people know waste, fraud, and abuse when they see it – and as the leader of the Republican Study Committee's Task Force on Rescissions, I'll continue to work to expose it,†Moore wrote in a statement following the vote.
Just days into his second-term, Trump deputized his billionaire backer Elon Musk to purge the federal government of “waste, fraud and abuse.â€
Under DOGE, which does not have the authority of an official government agency, Musk and his team gutted programs and offices around the country. In West Virginia, jobs were cut at the National Park Service, the Bureau of Fiscal Services in Parkersburg and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
The cuts, both here and nationally, were met with widespread protests and numerous court challenges. Challengers to the cuts argued under a 1974 law that the President can’t unilaterally stop spending money Congress already budgeted. Judges, for the most part, have agreed.
A rescission, also known as a clawback, is when Congress takes back money it previously budgeted. The system was established in the same 1974 law that said the President can’t stop spending money on a whim. Since 1974, about $500 billion has been taken back by lawmakers.
Under the law, Congress and the president can both petition to have federal funds taken back.
Moore has appeared to take his new job seriously. His X feed has been flooded with calls to support the initial round of cuts. When he was asked whether he’d support cuts West Virginians are already feeling, his office did not respond.
But in a statement released earlier in June, Moore said, “This is only the first step — more cuts are coming.â€
This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. Get stories like this delivered to your inbox once a week by signing up for their free newsletter at mountainstatespotlight.org/newsletter.
