Headline Misleads as Capito Signals Changes to Trump-Backed Bill
Politics

Headline Misleads as Capito Signals Changes to Trump-Backed Bill

In what appears to be yet another example of political doublespeak, The Exponent Telegram, a WV News publication, ran a headline this week claiming Sen. Shelley Moore Capito “voiced support” for President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”


Capito voices support for Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill,” the headline read.


But just a few paragraphs in, Capito makes it clear she’s already preparing to change it.

That’s right—she “supports” the bill… just not the actual contents of it.

The House narrowly passed the bill, a signature Trump package that includes extended tax cuts and stricter work requirements for welfare programs. While Trump loyalists celebrated the move, Capito seemed more interested in talking about how the Senate—under her watch—plans to rework it.

“We will have our own ideas here in the Senate, so we will be working that as we move through the month of June,” Capito said.

Of course, that crucial quote didn’t make the headline. Instead, WV News chose to give Capito political cover, offering her a headline that sounds like full-throated support for Trump’s agenda. In reality, Capito’s comments suggest she’s preparing to water it down.

She did mention “tax relief” and “curbing spending in certain areas,” but her eagerness to reshape the bill raises real concerns about whether she stands with the America First agenda—or with the D.C. establishment she’s called home for decades.

While West Virginia’s House Republicans, Reps. Carol Miller and Riley Moore, backed the bill as is, Capito appears to be taking a different path—one that leads away from the conservative base and into the arms of the Senate’s backroom dealmakers.

Any changes Capito and her Senate colleagues make to the bill could send it right back to the House—where its razor-thin 215-214 passage already exposed deep divisions. Even minor adjustments risk unraveling the fragile coalition that barely got it through in the first place. If the Senate rewrites too much, there’s a real chance the House could reject the revised version altogether, effectively killing the bill. So while Capito talks about “having our own ideas,” what she’s really doing is playing a dangerous game with legislation that Trump allies believe should remain untouched.

As of now, WV News has not corrected or clarified the misleading headline. Then again, maybe that was the point.

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