Moore Capito and Matt Harvey nominated for WV U.S. Attorney positions

by Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
July 1, 2025

President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Moore Capito to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, according to a social media post from his mother, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

Shelley Moore Capito’s post on X — which also said Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Harvey was nominated to serve as U.S. Attorney for the northern half of the state — did not make mention of the relationship between her and Moore Capito. 

Thrilled and extremely proud that @POTUS has chosen two stellar candidates to be West Virginia’s U.S. Attorneys, Matt Harvey in the Northern District and Moore Capito in the Southern District. I look forward to supporting their quick confirmations so they can get to work on…

— Shelley Moore Capito (@SenCapito) July 1, 2025

Her social media praise for her son’s appointment came just four minutes after she voted in support of her party’s “big, beautiful bill,” which narrowly passed the U.S. Senate 51 to 50. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote on the legislation.

The bill slashes funding to the Medicaid program and shifts significant costs of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to states for the first time. West Virginians in particular are especially reliant on those social safety nets, according to numerous advocacy groups.

In a statement Tuesday, the West Virginia Democratic Party accused Shelley Moore Capito of trading her vote on the spending bill for Moore Capito’s nomination.

“One has to wonder why Sen. Capito would be such an enthusiastic cheerleader for a bill that is so devastating to West Virginia and its citizens,” said Del. Mike Pushkin, chair of the Democratic Party, in a statement. “One logical explanation is that she’s holding out for a deal… her vote in exchange for her son’s political advancement. If so, that’s not public service — that’s corruption.”

Moore Capito previously sat as a Republican in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2016-2023. While there, he served as chair for the House Judiciary Committee.

In 2024, he ran a failed gubernatorial campaign, garnering 27.6% of votes — the second-highest vote getter in the race, which was split between four major candidates — in the Republican primary. He lost to current Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who won 33.3% of Republican primary votes.

In a statement on X, Moore Capito said being nominated by Trump was “an honor” and that “Trump’s commitment to law and order is making our state safer and stronger.”

During his Republican run for governor, Moore Capito regularly made “sanctuary cities” and anti-transgender rhetoric staples of his campaign materials, including in TV ads, mailers and more.

Most recently, Moore Capito works as an attorney representing “publicly-traded and privately-held clients in corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as business structuring, governance, commercial contracts, and real estate transactions” at the Babst Calland law office.

Harvey, Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia, has served as the Jefferson County prosecutor since 2017. 

He also currently sits as chairman of the West Virginia First Foundation, a private nonprofit created by the state Legislature in 2023 to distribute an expected $1 billion in opioid settlement funds across West Virginia.

Both Moore Capito and Harvey will have to be confirmed by Congress before taking the offices they’re nominated for.

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West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.