at
McLaughlin Air National Guard Base in 2015 Capito has voted with her party 96% of the time. She is considered relatively moderate and has crossed the aisle on some votes. In 2017,
The New York Times and
The Washington Post reported that Capito was one of the three most moderate Republican senators according to a study by
DW-NOMINATE. In 2023,
The Lugar Center and
McCourt School of Public Policy ranked Capito in the top fifth among senators for bipartisanship. According to
FiveThirtyEight, as of January 2023, Capito had voted with President Biden's position about 56% of the time.
Donald Trump's candidacy and presidency Donald Trump in 2019 In 2016, Capito raised concerns about Trump's tone and rhetoric during his presidential campaign. After the
Access Hollywood tape emerged, Capito said he should "reexamine his candidacy". But she later said she supported Trump for president. In 2020, Capito said she would be "impartial" and "fair" to both sides during Trump's Senate trial after his
second impeachment, and voted to acquit him. According to
FiveThirtyEight, she had voted with the Trump administration's position 94.9% of the time. As of November 19, 2020, Capito had not publicly acknowledged that
Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, though it had been called by all major media and analysts. By November 23, she issued a statement recognizing that Biden would be the next president. By December 5, she was among only 27 congressional Republicans to acknowledge Biden as the winner of the election. Trump subsequently attacked them, calling them
RINOs. On May 28, 2021, Capito voted against creating the
January 6 commission. Asked about Trump's future role in the Republican Party, she said she partially blamed him for the "insurrection" and did not think he would be the Republican nominee for president in 2024. Capito eventually endorsed Trump in the 2024 election.
Social policy Capito is a sponsor of the Gender Advancement in Pay (GAP) Act, saying "it should be common sense that women and men get
equal pay for equal work" and expressing concern about
sex discrimination against women in the workplace. She is a sponsor of the Rural Access to Hospice Act to improve the quality, access, and retention of
hospice facilities in
rural parts of the nation. She opposes the
Freedom to Vote Act which, among other reforms, would establish Election Day as a public holiday and "ensure states have early voting for federal elections, overhaul how congressional districts are redrawn and impose new disclosures on donations to outside groups active in political campaigns." On social policy, the
National Journal gave Capito a score of 54% conservative and 43% liberal. She received a 0% score in the
115th Congress and a 10% score in the
116th Congress. In 2004 and 2006, Capito voted for the
Federal Marriage Amendment, which intended to ban
same-sex marriage in the United States. But in 2015, she said she believed marriage was a state issue. In 2007 Capito voted against the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act and against
repealing the
Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. In 2009, Capito voted for the
2009-2010 Defense Appropriations bill, which expanded the legal definition of a
hate crime to include crimes committed because of someone's
gender identity. In 2013, she voted to reauthorize the
Violence Against Women Act, which includes provisions to assist victims regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and prohibits funding programs that discriminate. In 2015, she voted to give same-sex married couples access to Social Security and veterans' benefits. In 2017, Capito disagreed with President Trump's
use of Twitter to announce a ban on transgender troops in the military, saying, "we should be thankful for any American who selflessly serves our country to defend our freedoms." In 2021, she released a statement that she opposed the inclusion of
trans youth in the sporting programs of their gender identity; in particular, she opposed the inclusion of trans girls in girls' sporting teams and introduced legislation to ban trans girls from participating. In response to the Supreme Court's decision in
Obergefell v. Hodges, which found a constitutional right to
same-sex marriage, Capito said, "While I would have preferred that the Supreme Court leave this decision to the states, it is my hope that all West Virginians will move forward and continue to care for and respect one another." In November 2022, Capito was one of 12 Republicans voting to advance legislation, the
Respect for Marriage Act, to codify same-sex marriage into federal law; referring to civil same-sex marriage as a "civil partnership," Capito said that the "legislation will allow those who have entered into a civil partnership since the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in
Obergefell v. Hodges, to continue to have their partnerships respected for federal benefit purposes." She voted for the final passage of the Respect for Marriage Act on November 29, 2022.
Abortion Capito had described herself as "pro-choice," or
pro-abortion rights, but has a mixed record on
abortion. She had previously been among the few Republican senators who publicly supported
Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling abortion bans unconstitutional. But in 2020, she declared her support for
March for Life, an
anti-abortion movement, and in 2022, she reversed her position on
Roe, saying she believes states should be free to ban abortion. She supports legal abortion in cases when the pregnant patient's health is at risk and said abortions should be rare. She has mixed ratings from
anti-abortion organizations opposing abortion and
abortion rights organizations advocating legal abortion. In 2002, her third-largest contributor was
The WISH List, an abortion rights PAC. In 2000, she received support from
Republicans for Choice. She has been endorsed by West Virginians for Life, an anti-abortion
PAC, the WISH List, and by
Republican Majority for Choice, an abortion rights PAC. Capito voted against federal funding for abortion and for the
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, but against banning family-planning funding in US aid. She previously opposed the
Hyde Amendment, but now supports it. She supported federal funding for family planning in the House but voted to require parental consent for minors seeking an abortion. She opposed banning funds for
mifepristone, the "
abortion pill". She voted for spending bills funding Planned Parenthood and against a bill to defund it, but has also voted to defund Planned Parenthood. She is against bans on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, but supports banning abortion after 20 weeks. She voted with her party in 2018 to ban federal funding for facilities that promote abortion. Capito supports other anti-abortion legislation supported by her party. In 2021, she signed a letter put forward by the Senate's anti-abortion caucus opposing the repeal of the Hyde Amendment and opposing legislation to liberalize current federal abortion laws. In 2017, "West Virginians for Life, said [it] still supports Capito, despite the abortion rights self-identification and support for Roe v. Wade, because of Capito's steadfast voting record restricting abortions and defunding Planned Parenthood". In 2018, Capito said she was neutral on an initiative to ban abortion in West Virginia. She supported Trump's Supreme Court nominee
Brett Kavanaugh; when asked about
Roe, Capito said she does not think the court will overturn the ruling. "Fundamentally, it's been a precedent for a long time," she said. Capito also supported Trump's nomination of
Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Barrett signed a letter calling for the end of
Roe v. Wade, and supported a group that holds that life begins at fertilization. In 2020, Capito declined to sign an
amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to reconsider
Roe. Also in 2021, she was one of just three Senate Republicans (with
Susan Collins and
Lisa Murkowski) to decline to sign amicus briefs in the Mississippi case that seeks to ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Asked about a 2022 draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn
Roe v. Wade, reportedly joined by Barrett, Kavanaugh, and
Neil Gorsuch, all of whom Capito voted to confirm, she responded by criticizing the leak of the draft and said, "this is a draft opinion that is not binding Supreme Court precedent.
Roe still remains the law of the land until the Supreme Court issues its final ruling." After the Supreme Court overturned
Roe in the ''
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'' decision, Capito said she supported the court's decision and believed the issue should be decided at the state level. In September 2022, Capito said she was opposed to a national 15-week abortion ban proposed by Senator
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Sexual assault Capito is partnering with Democrats
Kirsten Gillibrand,
Patty Murray,
Amy Klobuchar and other bipartisan members of Congress to update the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995. In August 2018, She and Senator
Joe Manchin announced $899,927 for the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services through the U.S. Department of Justice's
Office on Violence Against Women.
Embryonic stem-cell research Capito supports
embryonic stem cell research. In 2001, Capito voted for a bill to ban the cloning of human embryos. Capito also voted in 2006 to attempt to override President Bush's veto of the 2005 bill. Also in 2007, Capito again voted in favor of funding stem-cell research. In 2009, Capito voted for a budget bill that prohibited the creation of human embryos for research. In 2016, she voted in favor of alerting law enforcement when a person suspected of terrorism attempts to purchase a firearm and in favor of an amendment to improve the
National Instant Background Check System, but she voted against two other gun control amendments. In 2018, Capito opposed President Trump's suggestion that teachers be armed, saying, "I don't think a teacher should carry a gun in a classroom." In January 2019, she was one of 31 Republican senators to cosponsor the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, a bill introduced by
John Cornyn and
Ted Cruz that would grant individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home state the right to exercise this right in any other state with concealed carry laws while concurrently abiding by that state's laws. Capito said she was open to supporting
red flag laws. As of 2020, the NRA has given her a rating of 92%, for supporting their positions, and
Gun Owners of America gives her a 69% rating.
Healthcare As a representative, Capito opposed the
Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) and has since voted repeatedly to repeal it. In July 2017, Capito opposed repealing the ACA without a replacement proposal, and was one of three Republican senators, along with
Susan Collins and
Lisa Murkowski, who blocked a bill to repeal the ACA without a replacement early in the attempted repeal process. Later that July, she voted to repeal the ACA. Capito was one of a few Republicans who broke with their party in favor of the State
Children's Health Insurance Program. In January 2009, she voted to expand the
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as part of its reauthorization. The expanded coverage would include about four million more children in the program. In May 2008, Capito voted for the
Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (commonly called the new G.I. Bill), which expanded the educational benefits for military veterans who have served since September 11, 2001. During the
112th Congress, she voted for H.R. 525 to expand the ACA grant programs. In 2014, she supported repealing the Affordable Care Act. On March 3, 2017, Capito supported preserving the ACA's Medicaid expansion in any GOP bill to repeal it . With three other Republicans, she signed a letter opposing the House plan to repeal the ACA. She opposed the
Better Care Reconciliation Act because of her opposition to an amendment to the bill as well as over opioid issues. She was one of seven Republicans who voted against repealing the ACA without a replacement. In 2018, Capito voted for the bipartisan Opioid Crisis Response Act to address the nation's opioid crisis. She also voted to increase
Telemedicine funding in five West Virginia counties. In January 2019, Capito cosponsored the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence (CHIME) Act, a bipartisan bill that would continue federal funding of community health centers and the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) beyond that year's September 30 deadline for five years and provide both with yearly federal funding increases beginning in fiscal year 2020. In 2021, she announced support for increasing funding for virtual healthcare options, and she co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to expand seniors' access to Telehealth, with "virtual [healthcare] visits." She supports extending Medicare to cover therapies to prevent diabetes. In 2024, Capito led a bill to create an advisory council to support research, care, and services to find a cure for
Parkinson’s disease.
Immigration Capito has said that she does not support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but voted against a 2004 bill that would have forced hospitals to report undocumented immigrants; she also voted for a 2001 bill to allow some immigrants to "remain in the country while pursuing residency". In 2010, she voted against the
DREAM Act. In 2018, Capito said of DACA and immigration, "It's probably going to be some sort of legal status for DACA recipients that gives them the permanence of legal status and then the border security". Of her views on DACA, Capito's office said that she "could support an immigration solution that provides for increased border security to protect Americans and provides relief for those in the DACA program. She is encouraged by ongoing negotiations between the Trump Administration and members of Congress to improve immigration policy and add resources for enforcement." In 2018, Capito voted to withhold federal funding from
sanctuary cities, voted against the McCain-Coons proposal to offer a pathway to citizenship without funding for a border wall, against Senator Collins's bipartisan bill to increase funding for border security and offer a pathway to citizenship, and in favor of Trump's proposal to offer a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants while reducing legal immigration numbers and using federal funds to build a border wall. In December 2018, Capito supported a bipartisan compromise funding bill that would have allocated $1.6 billion, instead of the $5 billion Trump requested, for a border wall to avoid a
government shutdown. Capito voiced disagreement with Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy that included separating children from their parents or guardians. She said, "we need to keep the families together". In 2019, she supported legislation to increase funding and humanitarian aid for "relief and comfort for migrants" on the US southern border. She also voted in committee for a bipartisan plan with $4.6 billion in funding with "$2.9 billion for the care of migrant children and $1.3 billion to improve facilities at the border". Special interest groups for and against immigration reform have given Capito mixed ratings.
NumbersUSA, which opposes illegal immigration and seeks to reduce legal immigration, gave her an 81% score and the
Federation for American Immigration Reform, which also opposes illegal immigration and wants to reduce legal immigration, gave her an 88% score; conversely, the
Hispanic Federation and
UnidosUS, which both support immigration, gave Capito a 59% rating. She also said that she had concerns, but accepted and supported the
legalization of medical marijuana.
Environmental policy Capito has received at lifetime rating of 17% from the
League of Conservation Voters, indicating an anti-environment voting record. In 2018, she voted for a bill that would curtail the federal government's ability to regulate
fracking. She has also voted to restrict the
Department of the Interior's ability to regulate
methane emissions. In February 2019, in response to reports of the EPA intending to decide against setting drinking water limits for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (
PFOS) and
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as part of an upcoming national strategy to manage the aforementioned class of chemicals, Capito was one of 20 senators to sign a letter to Acting EPA Administrator
Andrew R. Wheeler calling on the EPA "to develop enforceable federal drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, as well as institute immediate actions to protect the public from contamination from additional per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (
PFAS)." In 2020, she cosponsored legislation with fellow West Virginia Senator
Joe Manchin to "enhance a tax credit that Congress expanded in 2018 to spur investment in carbon capture technology."
Foreign policy Capito has sponsored approximately 40 bills about
international trade and
international finance, the most of any other legislative topic during her career. She criticized the vulnerabilities in national security policy in the wake of the
2015 San Bernardino attack and has sponsored eight bills on the military and national security. The letter, which sought to dissuade Iran from reaching an agreement with President
Barack Obama on
nuclear peace, was described by the
White House as "undercutting foreign policy". In April 2017, Capito co-sponsored the
Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S. 720), which would make it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and
Israeli settlements in the occupied
Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government. On foreign policy, the
National Journal gave her a score of 77% conservative and 15% liberal. Capito opposes legislation aimed at capping
greenhouse gas emissions. In January 2010, she reportedly asked the president if he would reconsider "job-killing" policies like limiting greenhouse gases. in the Oval Office during discussions about an infrastructure bill, 2021. In March 2011, Capito and other members of West Virginia's House delegation co-sponsored a campaign to allow the remains of the last American living veteran of
World War I,
Frank Buckles, to lie in state at the
Capitol rotunda. The move, requested by Buckles's family, had been blocked by Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid and House Speaker
John Boehner. Reid and Boehner supported a special ceremony at the
Arlington National Cemetery. Capito said, "This is a matter close to the hearts of many West Virginians, but everyone can appreciate the desire to come together one last time to respect and remember America’s last
doughboy". The campaign was unsuccessful and Buckles lay in honor at the Arlington National Cemetery. Capito supported Trump's decision to withdraw from the
Paris climate agreement. She called the decision "the right decision for the American economy and workers in West Virginia and across the country." She supports regulations implemented by the EPA, based on her bipartisan legislation, to increase clean water standards. In March 2023, Capito introduced the
Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act of 2023 in support of
generation IV reactor technology and nuclear development in general. The ADVANCE Act was incorporated into the
Fire Grants and Safety Act and signed into law in July 2024.
Fiscal policy In 2016, the fiscally conservative PAC the
Club for Growth gave her a 50% lifetime rating. In 2020, she said she opposed cuts to government spending, but also opposed any increases. In December 2010, Capito voted to extend the
tax cuts enacted during the administration of President George W. Bush. Capito supports a federal prohibition on online poker. In 2006, she cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act. She also supported H.R. 4411, the
Goodlatte-
Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. In June 2003, Capito introduced the Family Fairness in Taxing Act of 2003, which would accelerate the increase to the child tax credit, increase the qualification age for children, and revise refundability criteria for the credit. In 2001, Capito voted in favor of the
Bush tax cuts. In 2002, she supported partially privatizing Social Security but opposed complete privatization. In 2006, Capito joined Democrats to vote for an increase of the minimum wage. In 2012, during her campaign for the Senate, the Senate Conservative Fund opposed her nomination because "her spending record in the House is too liberal". In 2013, she voted against cutting funding for food stamps. In 2017, Capito opposed President Trump's proposed budget, saying that it would cut "too close to the bone". In 2017, she said she supported full repeal of the
inheritance tax. She also voted in favor of Trump's tax cut bill. In 2019, she came out against budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Capito was among a few Republicans, including
Joni Ernst of Iowa and
Susan Collins of Maine, to express criticism of Trump's nominee to the
Federal Reserve,
Stephen Moore, because of comments he had made about women; he ultimately withdrew the nomination. In 2019, Capito announced support for paid
family leave. In 2020, she opposed budget cuts due to the "spending needs" of states like West Virginia. On September 30, 2021, she was among 15 Senate Republicans to vote with all Democrats and both Independents for a temporary spending bill to avoid a
government shutdown. On October 7, 2021, she was one of 11 Republicans voting with all members of the Democratic caucus to end a filibuster on raising the
debt ceiling, but voted against the bill to raise the debt ceiling. On August 10, 2021, Capito was one of 19 Senate Republicans to vote with the Democratic caucus in favor of the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. On economic issues, the
National Journal gave her a rating of 53% conservative and 47% liberal. In 2017, she voted to confirm President Trump's first Supreme Court nominee,
Neil Gorsuch. After Trump nominated a second justice, Capito announced her support for the nominee,
Brett Kavanaugh, and after he was accused of sexual assault, she continued to support his nomination. Some of her fellow alumnae from the Holton-Arms School personally delivered her a letter signed by more than a thousand alumnae of the school, saying that they believe Kavanaugh's accuser because her allegations are "all too consistent with stories we heard and lived" while attending Holton-Arms. In March 2019, Capito was one of 12 senators to cosponsor a resolution that would impose a constitutional amendment limiting the Supreme Court to nine justices. The resolution was introduced after multiple Democratic presidential candidates expressed openness to the idea of expanding the seats on the Supreme Court. In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Capito supported an immediate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death. In March 2016, she took the opposite position when facing Obama's nominee, saying that a justice should not be considered during a presidential election year because "West Virginians and the American people should have the ability to weigh in at the ballot box". As of November 2021, Capito had a mixed voting record on Biden's judicial nominees. ==Vice presidential speculation==