WASHINGTON D.C. — State Senator Mike Stuart will be stand before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee at 10 a.m. Thursday to be confirmed as a leader within the Department of Health and Human Services.
Stuart was approached by the current administration in February and picked to serve as General Counsel for the department. He says this is an honor of a lifetime.
“It’s a tremendous honor. If you would’ve told me, as a young boy growing up in the coalfields of West Virginia, that one day I’d be sitting before the United States Senate being asked questions on the confirmation to be the General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, I would’ve said that’s impossible,” Stuart told MetroNews.
“One thing I’ve learned in life is that nothing is impossible in America, and this is a perfect example of that,” he continued.
Stuart says he knows Thursday will be a big day for him and his family.
“It’s a day of great honor for the family. It’s very exciting,” Stuart said. “I’m certainly filled with the anxiety of the unexpected, the questions that I get as I head into the role, hopefully, of General Counsel for the Department of Health and Human Services.”
During President Trump’s first administration, Stuart served as the U.S. Attorney for Southern West Virginia. According to Stuart, his body of work there likely caught the eye of those in D.C.
“We had the largest Medicaid fraud takedown in the history of West Virginia, the largest elder fraud takedown in the history of West Virginia, a landmark settlement on the Americans with Disabilities Act, and I’ve taken enough fentanyl off the streets to kill more than 40 million people in a state of 1.75 million. I’m pretty proud of that record. I think that record is what attracted the administration.”
Stuart has been serving West Virginia’s seventh Senatorial District — which covers the southern part of Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan and Boone counties — since 2022. He says he’s loved serving this area, and its challenges over the past four years have prepared him for his new role where he’ll be over programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
“It’s a district that’s paid a heavy price. Population exodus, technological revolution, loss of jobs, the change of industry, bad trade deals, all of that led to what was just a difficult situation in a district like mine.
“It was from representing the people that I represent, from seeing up close and personal how important these payments are, that I think it will have an indelible, lasting impact in terms of how I do my new role,” Stuart said.