West Virginia's Capito emerges as central figure as Democrats, Republicans seek infrastructure deal
The delicate balancing act begins in earnest this week, as Capito prepares to lead a delegation of GOP lawmakers to meet with President Biden
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) walks through the Senate subway on her way to a vote on the Senate floor at the Capitol on April 19. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
By
Tony Romm
Reporter
May 10, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. CDT
Six years after a landslide at Yeager Airport sent dirt and debris tumbling into the valley below, the runways at this hilltop transportation hub in Charleston, W.Va., still could use some upgrades.
The need for the new investment was obvious to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who donned a hard hat and toured the airport to see some of its other ongoing construction projects in March. “A lot of our infrastructure is falling apart,” she told local reporters at the time.
Now, the fate of those improvements in West Virginia and around the country may well rest on her shoulders. As she returns to Washington, Capito, 67, has emerged as the GOP’s front-line voice in the high-stakes congressional debate over infrastructure. Hailing from a state that’s eager for federal money — and a party that’s increasingly reluctant to spend it — the second-term senator from one of West Virginia’s most well-known political families may be the best hope to help broker the sort of compromise that Democrats and Republicans insist they want.
The delicate balancing act will begin in earnest this week, as Capito prepares to lead a delegation of GOP lawmakers to meet with President Biden to discuss their competing visions for the nation’s roads, bridges, airports and waterways. Trillions of dollars in policy differences still separate the two sides, but the president and his top aides stress that they prefer a bipartisan deal on infrastructure.
More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/05/10/capito-west-virginia-infrastructure-biden/
Capito, sitting next to Manchin.