In a March 20, 2025 FoxNews.com segment headlined “Trump praised for empowering states, parents with elimination of Education Department,” Republican West Virginia state Senator Jason Barrett reacted to the convicted felon president’s order to eliminate the US Department of Education with just that: praise. “Well I think what this does is it empowers states, it empowers communities, and more importantly it empowers parents. And I think that any time the federal government can take a step back, return power to the states and communities, I think that’s a great thing and that’s what we in West Virginia are looking to do,” said Barrett in the 5:43 AM hit.
Then, in what appears to be his very next interview with a national media outlet, Barrett this week told CBS News that he’s worried about his 94 year-old grandmother’s nursing home and the rest of the 77 percent of Mountain State senior care residents who rely on Medicaid for their stays in the facilities after all four of the Republicans in their Congressional delegation voted to drastically fuck them over. “We have to get to a place where we’re balancing our budget again. I don’t think we do that on the backs of nursing home residents,” said Barrett, adding he’s also dreading having to legislate a fix. “A complete backfill of cuts to Medicaid would be very crippling to our state budget.”