Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, will no longer serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee this session, according to a statement released Friday by House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.

Del. J.B. Akers, R-Kanawha, who was announced earlier this month to be the vice chair, will now chair the major committee while Del. Jordan Maynor, R-Raleigh, will serve as vice chair.

“Del. Akers has acclimated quickly to the legislative process and has shown a thoughtful approach to consensus-building that will serve us well,” Hanshaw said in an emailed statement.

Hanshaw said his decision followed a “recent conversation” with Steele, who recognized he needed to “spend more time focused on matters outside the Capitol building,” according to Hanshaw’s statement.

Notably, the changeup comes after recordings of 911 calls placed in December by Steele’s wife were sent to media and legislative leadership on Jan. 7 — the same day Steele was named to head the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee can be tasked with vetting bills impacting the criminal justice system, including penalties for domestic violence.

In those 911 calls, Brianne Steele told a 911 operator that her husband, Brandon Steele, was drunkenly handling assault rifles and screaming at people in their neighborhood on Dec. 23.

She said he was “extremely agitated and very, very drunk” and that their three children, who were home at the time of the incident, were “terrified.” 

According to a police report from the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office, officers arrived at Steele’s residence following Brianne Steele’s second call. No arrests were made. 

Brandon Steele, a lawyer by trade, told police that he was worried about “possible threats regarding trials that he is working” and admitted that he did approach two vehicles driving in front of their house while carrying AR-15 style rifles. The occupants in the first vehicle said they were looking at Christmas lights while those in the second quickly drove away, Brandon Steele told police.

Brianne Steele said she didn’t see any cars in front of their home that night. She did see her husband walk in and out of the house while carrying the guns and “screaming.” She told law enforcement that she believed her husband to be “extremely paranoid” and a “severe alcoholic,” though at no time did he threaten her or the children.

When asked about the incident — which has been verified through both a police report and recordings of two individual 911 calls — Brandon Steele told West Virginia Watch that the “rumors being spread” around it were “vicious and disheartening.”

In a joint interview with MetroNews, both Brianne and Brandon Steele spoke about the events on Dec. 23, 2024, where they agreed that Brandon’s behavior was poor but noted that he was not arrested for his actions.

“As much as I regret the 23rd, I wasn’t arrested. I wasn’t charged with anything. This getting spun into some domestic incident — that didn’t happen,” Brandon Steele said. “I felt threatened and approached a threat. Did I do it in the best way? Absolutely not. I really wish I could take that back, but I can’t. I’ve got to own it.”

The 2025 regular legislative session will start Feb. 12.

Sen. Jim Justice, who promised rocket ship rides and boasted big budget surpluses, has left the new Gov. Patrick Morrisey with a problem: a projected $400 million deficit beginning next year.

Morrisey, who is in his first week on the job, said that the deficit was what his administration had found as of this week.

“We’re talking about what we’ve inherited. It’s not factoring in any new spending priorities or any proposed additional tax cuts,” he said Thursday at the state Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia.

“These problems weren’t created overnight,” he continued. “ … I can tell you that we do believe that there are significant structural problems with the budget, and I’m committed to fixing it.”

The Republican, who campaigned on ending big government spending, said the projected deficit doesn’t mean his administration won’t be able to offer another tax cut to residents or pay raises to teachers. He said they’re still a possibility his administration will address rising health care costs impacting the Public Employees Insurance Agency. 

“I’ve been very clear that I want West Virginia to be even more competitive with all the states that we touch,” Morrisey said. “But we’re going to have to look at this, and it’s going to take a while for anyone to go through this … I know that I remain very optimistic despite a lot of the big spending that’s occurred.”

Morrisey declined to put the blame specifically on Justice, saying, “I’m not going to talk about any individuals.” Justice, a Republican, was sworn into the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, forgoing the first 10 days of his Senate term.

Justice faced a $500 million budget deficit when he took office as governor in 2017.

He consistently commented on his work turning around the state’s financial situation, and he regularly touted his multi-million dollar surpluses. Justice was adamant that lawmakers keep a flat budget. Meanwhile, state health leaders said they needed nearly $300 million to address pressing issues in West Virginia, like the substance abuse crisis. Education leaders said they needed $258 million to implement necessary school safety measures amid a national rise in school violence. 

Last month, Justice told the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, “For all I know, we do not have a hole for [fiscal year] 2026 at all … the next budget will surely depend on decisions that are made by the next folks that come in and the Legislature and on and on and on.” 

This year’s budget bill, passed by the House and Senate on the last night of the 2024 regular legislative session, set the general revenue budget for the current fiscal year at roughly $4.9 billion, 5% less than Justice’s introduced version of $5.3 billion. 

Morrisey said on Tuesday that there had been “a lot of spending” in the last few months under Justice, adding that he would be “analyzing that rocket ship ride.” His administration will review a number of recent economic announcements under Justice, and non finalized contracts could be eliminated as he seeks to save money.

“The era of big spending is over. It’s over. In West Virginia, the time for spending beyond our means is over,” Morrisey said. 

Already taking steps to address spending 

Morrisey said that he expects the state to meet budget goals this year through June 30, the end of the current fiscal year. The shortfall in this year’s budget is temporarily being replaced by a one-time provider tax cash balance, he said.

He emphasized that he already began cutting costs, including an executive order issued on Tuesday that eliminated any state dollars tied to diversity initiatives. Another executive order requires state agencies to make a plan for more efficient spending.

In an effort to save money, Morrisey said that he will work with the Legislature to consolidate the existing Department of Economic Development with the Department of Commerce and to consolidate the existing Department of Arts, Culture and History with the Department of Tourism. The considerations are “an initial step toward making state government more efficient and effective,” according to Morrisey. 

He was unable to offer specifics about any potential job cuts in an effort to save money.

Despite the budget hole, Morrisey will push his tax cut in collaboration with the Legislature. 

“I do believe that West Virginia needs to continue to emphasize a reduction in taxes to become the lowest in the region,” he said. 

Morrisey will present his proposed budget to lawmakers when the regular 60-day legislative session begins next month. 

“We will continue to try to garner every efficiency out of state government, because our taxpayers deserve nothing less,” he said. 

Gov. Patrick Morrisey campaigned on “right sizing”. Now three days into Morrisey’s term as governor he’s proposing to restructure state departments. 

The new governor took his cabinet appointments as an opportunity to usher in an era of fewer governmental departments. 

In announcing five more cabinet appointments, Morrisey also announced plans to combine four state agencies into two. 

Morrisey said he will work with lawmakers to pass legislation that would combine The Department of Arts, Culture and History with the Department of Tourism. 

He said he also plans to work with the legislature to combine the Department of Commerce and the Department of Economic Development. 

Morrisey, who ran on reducing the size of the state’s government, said this is just the beginning of the consolidation of state agencies. 

“These are not going to be the end of the consolidation proposals,” Morrisey said. “You should expect that there will be a number of additional proposals in this area in the upcoming weeks.”

Morrisey said in the press conference that the state is staring down a budget deficit if the state doesn’t take necessary steps — including consolidations. 

“Those efficiencies are even more important in light of what we’re going to be talking about next,” he said “The era of big spending is over.” 

The new secretary of the Department of Commerce will be the current West Virginia Republican Party Chair, Mathew Herridge. 

Chelsea Ruby, who has been the secretary of tourism for the past eight years, was reappointed. 

Morrisey didn’t name secretaries for the Department of Arts, Culture and History or the Department of Economic Development.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting falls under the Department of Arts, Culture and History.  

Morrisey announced two more appointments Thursday. 

Stephen Todd Rumbaugh was appointed the secretary of transportation and commissioner of highways. Arvin Singh was appointed secretary of health.