U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine on Wednesday introduced a bill to redesignate the site known as “Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial” at Arlington National Cemetery to simply the “Arlington House National Historic Site.”
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine on Wednesday introduced a bill to redesignate the site known as “Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial” at Arlington National Cemetery to simply the “Arlington House National Historic Site.”
Companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, Va.-8th District.
The legislation, Kaine’s office told InsideNoVa, would repeal statutes memorializing Lee dating back to 1955, when Congress renamed the memorial the “Custis-Lee Mansion” from its original title of “Arlington House.”
“The names of our national sites hold significance and should honor individuals whom we can all look up to,” Kaine said in a news release. “That’s why I’m introducing this legislation to remove Robert E. Lee’s name from Arlington House. During Black History Month, we recommit to restoring the original name to better tell the whole history of the house and reflect our nation’s values.”
Overseen by the National Park Service, the mansion is on federal land within the U.S. Army portion of Arlington National Cemetery. It was built by George Washington Park Custis, grandson of Martha Custis Washington – the nation’s original first lady – as the first memorial to George Washington.
Custis’ daughter later married Gen. Robert E. Lee and lived in the home until the Civil War, at which time the site was selected as a national military cemetery.
Kaine’s legislation comes at the behest of descendants of people who were enslaved at Arlington House.
According to the National Parks Service, “Arlington House is the nation’s memorial to Robert E. Lee. It honors him for specific reasons, including his role in promoting peace and reunion after the Civil War. In a larger sense it exists as a place of study and contemplation of the meaning of some of the most difficult aspects of American history: military service; sacrifice; citizenship; duty; loyalty; slavery and freedom.”
BOSTON — An expected vote by the U.S. Senate on a war powers resolution to restrict U.S. military action in Venezuela has become a campaign issue in the Democratic primary race between incumbent U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and challenger U.S Rep. Seth Moulton.
The Senate on Thursday is poised to vote on a war powers resolution, filed by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, to halt President Donald Trump’s use of military force against Venezuela. The move comes after Trump ordered the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who were brought to New York to face drug trafficking and weapons charges.
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The Democratic 8 Also Knifed The Hemp Industry — siding with prohibitionists to gut veterans’ healthcare and hemp innovation.
They are the buzz on the internet and politics worlds over their betrayal to their political party, but did you know the Democratic 8 also knifed the hemp industry? In a dramatic turn of events, 8 Senate Democrats have quietly helped push through a deal both re-criminalizes intoxicating hemp-derived THC products and strips out key medical-marijuana provisions previously cleared both chambers of Congress. The implications for both healthcare and cannabis policy are significant.
Under the newly negotiated spending package, negotiators agreed to ban “intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8,” while preserving non-intoxicating CBD and industrial hemp. At the same time, the legislation omits the provisions the House and Senate earlier this year passed to enable physicians at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recommend medical marijuana to veterans — language now excluded from this deal.
From a healthcare standpoint, this is a two‐fold blow. First: healthcare access for veterans. The VA‐doctor recommendation language was seen as a breakthrough for veteran patients who seek alternatives to opioids or other pain management tools. Now it’s gone. Second: the broader THC market. By re-criminalizing intoxicating hemp THC products — despite their existence in a previously lawful grey-zone post-Agricultural Marketing Act of 2018 (the “2018 Farm Bill”) environment — Congress has signalled certain “hemp-derived” cannabinoids are being pulled back under prohibition.
Senator Kaine voted to put in a knife in the Hemp industry
the group of eight Senate Democrats who broke from the caucus to vote in favour of advancing a funding deal to end the government shutdown include:
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)
Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
John Fetterman (D-Pa.)
Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.)
Tim Kaine (D-Va.)
Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) – whose daughter is also running for Congress
Angus King (I-Maine, caucuses with Democrats)
What stands out is the ban on intoxicating hemp THC products came in the same spending package, even though earlier this year the House and Senate had passed language to allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana for veterans. The new deal reverses earlier momentum.
For advocates of veteran healthcare this is a cold shower in addition to the failed promise to help with healthcare premiums. It is also a deliberate smack at any real cannabis policy reform. The exclusion of VA-doctor recommendation language means veterans may have to continue navigating patchy state laws and federal prohibitions without help from the federal agency meant to serve them. Meanwhile, hemp business operators say the ban threatens a multibillion‐dollar industry built around hemp-derived cannabinoids.
The timing is also politically striking. By tying these policy reversals to a must-pass government-funding measure, negotiators effectively placed them in the envelope of “budget compromise” rather than standalone reform. This means Democrat 8 can gut healthcare in two separate ways at the same time…with the hemp being a hidden negative for veteran with PTSD, cancer patients and others who the American Medical Association say could benefit.
On the hemp side, the language undercuts previous regulatory efforts by Democratic senators. In September, eight Senate Democrats had sent a letter urging party leaders not to re-criminalize hemp THC products. But given the opportunity the deal they signed onto does exactly did re-criminalize hemp. You wonder if their early comments were just for votes and optics.
The deal pushed by Democratic negotiators didn’t just fail to extend healthcare protection, it actively reversed course on veteran access to medical cannabis and tightened federal restrictions on hemp-derived intoxicants. Whether this will spark further legislative fights, or judicial ones, remains to be seen. What is clear is a policy moment earlier this year looked like progress has now been shunted aside hidden under cover of a budget compromise.
Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday he believes U.S. military members will be paid at the end of the week, though he did not specify how the Trump administration will reconfigure funding as pain from the second-longest shutdown spreads nationwide.The funding fight in Washington gained new urgency this week as millions of Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance, more federal workers miss their first full paycheck and recurring delays at airports snarl travel plans.“We do think that we can continue paying the troops, at least for now,” Vance told reporters after lunch with Senate Republicans at the Capitol. “We’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out in a week. We’re trying to keep as much open as possible. We just need the Democrats to actually help us out.”The vice president reaffirmed Republicans’ strategy of trying to pick off a handful of Senate Democrats to vote for stopgap funding to reopen the government. But nearly a month into the shutdown, it hasn’t worked. Just before Vance’s visit, a Senate vote on legislation to reopen the government failed for the 13th time.Federal employee union calls for end to shutdownThe strain is building on Democratic lawmakers to end the impasse. That was magnified by the nation’s largest federal employee union, which on Monday called on Congress to immediately pass a funding bill and ensure workers receive full pay. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the two political parties have made their point.”It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” said Kelley, whose union carries considerable political weight with Democratic lawmakers.Still, Democratic senators, including those representing states with many federal workers, did not appear ready to back down. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said he was insisting on commitments from the White House to prevent the administration from mass firing more workers. Democrats also want Congress to extend subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act.“We’ve got to get a deal with Donald Trump,” Kaine said.But shutdowns grow more painful the longer they go. Soon, with closures lasting a fourth full week as of Tuesday, millions of Americans are likely to experience the difficulties firsthand.“This week, more than any other week, the consequences become impossible to ignore,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference.How will Trump administration reconfigure funds?The nation’s 1.3 million active duty service members were at risk of missing a paycheck on Friday. Earlier this month, the Trump administration ensured they were paid by shifting $8 billion from military research and development funds to make payroll. Vance did not say Tuesday how the Department of Defense will cover troop pay this time.Larger still, the Trump administration says funding will run out Friday for the food assistance program that is relied upon by 42 million Americans to supplement their grocery bills. The administration has rejected the use of more than $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits flowing into November. And it says states won’t be reimbursed if they temporarily cover the cost of benefits next month.A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Massachusetts that aims to keep SNAP benefits flowing by compelling the Agriculture Department to use the SNAP contingency funds.Vance said that reconfiguring funds for various programs such as SNAP was like “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with the budget.”The Agriculture Department says the contingency fund is intended to help respond to emergencies such as natural disasters. Democrats say the decision concerning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, goes against the department’s previous guidance concerning its operations during a shutdown.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the administration made an intentional choice not to the fund SNAP in November, calling it an “act of cruelty.”Another program endangered by the shutdown is Head Start, with more than 130 preschool programs not getting federal grants on Saturday if the shutdown continues, according to the National Head Start Association. All told, more than 65,000 seats at Head Start programs across the country could be affected.Judge blocks firingsA federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday.Federal agencies are enjoined from issuing layoff notices or acting on notices issued since the government shut down Oct. 1. Illston said that her order does not apply to notices sent before the shutdown.Will lawmakers find a solution?At the Capitol, congressional leaders mostly highlighted the challenges many Americans are facing as a result of the shutdown. But there was no movement toward negotiations as they attempted to lay blame on the other side of the political aisle.“Now government workers and every other American affected by this shutdown have become nothing more than pawns in the Democrats’ political games,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.The House passed a short-term continuing resolution on Sept. 19 to keep federal agencies funded. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of legislative session ever since, saying the solution is for Democrats to simply accept that bill.But the Senate has consistently fallen short of the 60 votes needed to advance that spending measure. Democrats insist that any bill to fund the government also address health care costs, namely the soaring health insurance premiums that millions of Americans will face next year under plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.Window-shopping for health plans delayedWhen asked about his strategy for ending the shutdown, Schumer said that millions of Americans will begin seeing on Saturday how much their health insurance is going up next year.“People in more than 30 states are going to be aghast, aghast when they see their bills,” Schumer said. “And they are going to cry out, and I believe there will be increased pressure on Republicans to negotiate.”The window for enrolling in ACA health plans begins Saturday. In past years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has allowed Americans to preview their health coverage options about a week before open enrollment. But, as of Tuesday, Healthcare.gov appeared to show 2025 health insurance plans and estimated prices, instead of next year’s options.Republicans insist they will not entertain negotiations on health care until the government reopens.“I’m particularly worried about premiums going up for working families,” said Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa. “So we’re going to have that conversation, but we’re not going to have it until the government opens.”___Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON —
Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday he believes U.S. military members will be paid at the end of the week, though he did not specify how the Trump administration will reconfigure funding as pain from the second-longest shutdown spreads nationwide.
The funding fight in Washington gained new urgency this week as millions of Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance, more federal workers miss their first full paycheck and recurring delays at airports snarl travel plans.
“We do think that we can continue paying the troops, at least for now,” Vance told reporters after lunch with Senate Republicans at the Capitol. “We’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out in a week. We’re trying to keep as much open as possible. We just need the Democrats to actually help us out.”
The vice president reaffirmed Republicans’ strategy of trying to pick off a handful of Senate Democrats to vote for stopgap funding to reopen the government. But nearly a month into the shutdown, it hasn’t worked. Just before Vance’s visit, a Senate vote on legislation to reopen the government failed for the 13th time.
Federal employee union calls for end to shutdown
The strain is building on Democratic lawmakers to end the impasse. That was magnified by the nation’s largest federal employee union, which on Monday called on Congress to immediately pass a funding bill and ensure workers receive full pay. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the two political parties have made their point.
“It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” said Kelley, whose union carries considerable political weight with Democratic lawmakers.
Still, Democratic senators, including those representing states with many federal workers, did not appear ready to back down. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said he was insisting on commitments from the White House to prevent the administration from mass firing more workers. Democrats also want Congress to extend subsidies for health plans under the Affordable Care Act.
“We’ve got to get a deal with Donald Trump,” Kaine said.
But shutdowns grow more painful the longer they go. Soon, with closures lasting a fourth full week as of Tuesday, millions of Americans are likely to experience the difficulties firsthand.
“This week, more than any other week, the consequences become impossible to ignore,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, chair of the House Republican Conference.
How will Trump administration reconfigure funds?
The nation’s 1.3 million active duty service members were at risk of missing a paycheck on Friday. Earlier this month, the Trump administration ensured they were paid by shifting $8 billion from military research and development funds to make payroll. Vance did not say Tuesday how the Department of Defense will cover troop pay this time.
Larger still, the Trump administration says funding will run out Friday for the food assistance program that is relied upon by 42 million Americans to supplement their grocery bills. The administration has rejected the use of more than $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits flowing into November. And it says states won’t be reimbursed if they temporarily cover the cost of benefits next month.
A coalition of 25 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Massachusetts that aims to keep SNAP benefits flowing by compelling the Agriculture Department to use the SNAP contingency funds.
Vance said that reconfiguring funds for various programs such as SNAP was like “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with the budget.”
The Agriculture Department says the contingency fund is intended to help respond to emergencies such as natural disasters. Democrats say the decision concerning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, goes against the department’s previous guidance concerning its operations during a shutdown.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the administration made an intentional choice not to the fund SNAP in November, calling it an “act of cruelty.”
Another program endangered by the shutdown is Head Start, with more than 130 preschool programs not getting federal grants on Saturday if the shutdown continues, according to the National Head Start Association. All told, more than 65,000 seats at Head Start programs across the country could be affected.
Judge blocks firings
A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the government shutdown, saying that labor unions were likely to prevail on their claims that the cuts were arbitrary and politically motivated.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday.
Federal agencies are enjoined from issuing layoff notices or acting on notices issued since the government shut down Oct. 1. Illston said that her order does not apply to notices sent before the shutdown.
Will lawmakers find a solution?
At the Capitol, congressional leaders mostly highlighted the challenges many Americans are facing as a result of the shutdown. But there was no movement toward negotiations as they attempted to lay blame on the other side of the political aisle.
“Now government workers and every other American affected by this shutdown have become nothing more than pawns in the Democrats’ political games,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
The House passed a short-term continuing resolution on Sept. 19 to keep federal agencies funded. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of legislative session ever since, saying the solution is for Democrats to simply accept that bill.
But the Senate has consistently fallen short of the 60 votes needed to advance that spending measure. Democrats insist that any bill to fund the government also address health care costs, namely the soaring health insurance premiums that millions of Americans will face next year under plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Window-shopping for health plans delayed
When asked about his strategy for ending the shutdown, Schumer said that millions of Americans will begin seeing on Saturday how much their health insurance is going up next year.
“People in more than 30 states are going to be aghast, aghast when they see their bills,” Schumer said. “And they are going to cry out, and I believe there will be increased pressure on Republicans to negotiate.”
The window for enrolling in ACA health plans begins Saturday. In past years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has allowed Americans to preview their health coverage options about a week before open enrollment. But, as of Tuesday, Healthcare.gov appeared to show 2025 health insurance plans and estimated prices, instead of next year’s options.
Republicans insist they will not entertain negotiations on health care until the government reopens.
“I’m particularly worried about premiums going up for working families,” said Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa. “So we’re going to have that conversation, but we’re not going to have it until the government opens.”
___
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger faced off for the first and only time on the debate stage Thursday night in Virginia’s high-stakes gubernatorial race.
It was a fiery affair in which Earle-Sears, who is trailing in the race, went on the offensive from the very beginning, repeatedly interrupting Spanberger and asking her several direct questions.
Spanberger, who largely avoided addressing her Republican opponent directly, sought to cast a bipartisan tone at times. Over the course of the hourlong affair, the candidates sparred over violent rhetoric, the federal shutdown and transgender children. The economy was largely an afterthought.
This combo image shows Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, left, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, right.
AP
Virginia is one of just two states choosing governors this November, and its election is often seen as a bellwether for the party in power across the Potomac River ahead of midterm elections next year.
Washington politics are especially relevant this year in Virginia, as President Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce and Congress’ current government shutdown have an outsize impact in a state filled with federal employees and military personnel.
Here are some takeaways from the debate at Norfolk State University:
Perhaps even more than policy differences, the candidates’ personal styles shaped the hourlong debate.
Earle-Sears, with her only chance to confront Spanberger before Election Day, was far more aggressive. She repeatedly turned toward Spanberger and addressed her by her first name, interrupting almost every answer, despite being admonished by the moderators over and over.
The approach put the Democrat on the defensive after months of running the race largely on her own terms as the perceived frontrunner.
Spanberger, while she criticized her opponent at times, faced forward throughout, avoided eye contact, and only rarely addressed Earle-Sears directly. She did not speak during Earle-Sears’ answers, even when her opponent asked direct questions, which happened often.
Earle-Sears also told Spanberger she “should have stayed in Congress” and frequently questioned her truthfulness.
“Don’t lie like that, Abigail!” she shouted at one point.
The interruptions lasted up until the very final moments of the debate when the moderators cut off the microphones.
A scandal shaped the very beginning of the debate, although it was not a scandal directly involving either candidate onstage.
Instead, it was the Democratic candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones. He has been heavily criticized in recent days following last week’s publication of text messages from 2022 in which he suggested that Virginia’s former Republican House speaker get “two bullets in the head.”
While Spanberger had previously shared “disgust” about Jones’s words, heading into Thursday night’s debate she had not called for him to drop out of the race, while Mr. Trump and Earle-Sears publicly pressed Jones to do so. Over and over again Thursday night, Earle-Sears pushed Spanberger on whether she would do the same.
Earle-Sears, in her first comment of the debate, took an unrelated question about the state’s vehicle tax and questioned Spanberger over the Jones issue. When asked by a moderator about Jones, Spanberger quickly denounced the text messages, as she had soon after they became public last week. But she was evasive when asked whether she continued to endorse Jones. After being pressed about the topic, Spanberger tried to distance herself from Jones and said it was up to voters to make an individual decision.
“Abigail, what if he said it about your three children? Is that when you would say it’s time to get out of the race?” Earle-Sears asked. She later added of Spanberger, “She has no courage.”
Spanberger had largely avoided the issue in the days leading up to the debate, aside from issuing a public statement condemning the texts. But facing repeated questions from the moderators and her opponent, she was forced to weigh in. The Democratic congresswoman declined to say whether Jones should leave the race, saying it’s up to voters to make their own decision.
“Are you saying political murder is OK?” Earle-Sears charged.
“Once again, I have denounced political violence, political rhetoric, no matter who is leading the charge,” Spanberger responded, pointing to violent rhetoric from Mr. Trump that Earle-Sears declined to denounce and trying to sound a bipartisan tone.
“You routinely refer to me as your enemy. I’m not your enemy. You are not my enemy. We are political opponents,” Spanberger said.
In the race to succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who under state law cannot run for another term this year, Spanberger has been viewed as having a sizable advantage. But statewide races in Virginia can become surprisingly close by election day, and Jones’ words have been met with bipartisan backlash and helped galvanize Republican momentum.
The clash comes as threats of political violence have escalated across the country following the shooting deaths of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
The showdown over the shutdown flared Thursday night.
The federal shutdown, which has been underway for more than a week, is especially prevalent in Virginia, home to roughly 315,000 federal workers. Even before much of the federal government closed its doors last week, many Virginians were already affected by Mr. Trump’s spring push to slash federal jobs and his ongoing threats to impose more mass firings.
Earle-Sears, a vocal Trump supporter, had perhaps the more difficult challenge during the debate. She argued that she is best positioned to strengthen the state’s economy, even as she was reluctant to criticize the Republican president’s job cuts in the state.
She declined to criticize Mr. Trump or call on him to end the shutdown when asked directly by the moderators Thursday.
Instead, she blamed Democrats for the mess and called on Spanberger to push Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, to vote in favor of a spending bill that would end the impasse with the Republican-controlled Congress.
Spanberger complied.
“I would encourage everyone, our Democratic senators, our Democratic House members, our Republican House members, to work and come back to the table,” she said.
Many voters say they’re most concerned about the direction of the economy, but some of the most pointed moments of the debate were focused on cultural issues.
In particular, Earle-Sears pressed Spanberger on whether she would keep transgender youths out of high school sports and bathrooms.
The Republican lieutenant governor has flooded the airwaves with ads focused on the cultural divide that helped Mr. Trump win the presidency last fall, casting Spanberger as unwilling to protect Virginia’s children from sexual predators.
“My answer is that each local community decision should be made between parents and educators and teachers in each community,” Spanberger said, pointing to her background in law enforcement and role as a mother.
“Nothing is more important to me than the safety of all children,” she said.
Spanberger declined to say whether she would rescind the measure signed by Youngkin that would require students to go only to the restrooms of their birth gender.
That did not satisfy Earle-Sears, who pressed Spanberger on what she would say if her own children were forced to undress in a bathroom with biological males. The Republican also implied that transgender students are a safety threat when asked.
“We know that biological men are larger in strength than women,” she said. “This is biology.”
Two women stood on the debate stage as the Democratic and Republican nominees for the first time in state history, a reminder that Virginia is poised to elect its first female governor, no matter who wins on Nov. 4.
Spanberger, 46, is a mother of three school-age children. She has represented a congressional district in northern Virginia since 2019. Her background is in law enforcement as a former CIA agent.
In one of the few warm exchanges of the night, Earle-Sears pointed to her role as a mother when asked what qualities she likes about her opponent.
“I believe she is a devoted mom. I truly believe that,” Earle-Sears said. “And I do believe that she cares.”
Earle-Sears, a Marine veteran, may be better known statewide, having served as lieutenant governor for the last four years. A native of Jamaica, the 61-year-old mother of two, is the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia.
Spanberger complimented parts of her record.
“I admire her faith,” Spanberger said, “and her service to this country.”
One of Virginia’s crown jewels of tourist attractions, the Discovery Space Shuttle, could be blasting off somewhere else.
This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
One of Virginia’s crown jewels of tourist attractions, the Discovery Space Shuttle, could be blasting off somewhere else as U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine seek to prevent the move from its home in Virginia to Texas.
The effort to relocate the space shuttle comes as support has increased for moving it to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, which is considered central to the United States’ human spaceflight program. Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both from Texas, are pushing the relocation effort. The ship has been at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly since 2012.
Last week, the senators wrote a letter to Senate appropriators, hoping to block federal funding included in the Big Beautiful Bill Act for relocating the shuttle, arguing that it would waste taxpayer dollars, put it at risk of damage and diminish public access.
The Smithsonian estimated that transporting Discovery could cost more than $50 million, with another $325 million needed for planning, exhibit reconstruction and new facilities, the letter states, exceeding the $85 million appropriated in the Act.
“From a public access standpoint, the Udvar-Hazy Center, located in the Washington, D.C. region, offers free public admission and draws millions of visitors annually, including students, veterans, and international tourists,” Kaine and Warner wrote. “The Smithsonian provides Discovery with professional stewardship and global visibility. The Smithsonian is unique among museums for providing visitors with access to a national treasure meant to inspire the American public without placing economic barriers.”
The center has become one of the top 20 most-visited museums in North America, garnering more than a million visitors per year, according to the Smithsonian.
Between 1984 and 2012, Discovery orbited the Earth almost 150 million miles more than its two predecessors, flying 39 missions. The ship, named for renowned sailing ships of exploration, was transferred to the Smithsonian by NASA in April 2012.
Recently, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum announced plans to expand the center in Northern Virginia, following the last major construction project in 2003. The project will enable the Smithsonian to showcase more artifacts and new acquisitions, likely enhancing the shuttle and the center’s offerings.
Construction is expected to be finished by the end of 2028.
In an August interview, Cornyn said the then-NASA Administrator and former Discovery astronaut Charles Bolden Jr. gave Houston “short shrift” when it came to considering the city as one of the homes for four retiring shuttles in 2010. Bolden assigned the remaining three shuttles to California, Florida and New York.
However, Cornyn believed the Johnson Space Center is “a natural place” for the ship to be located, as it is the home of human spaceflight.
As part of the process to have Houston reconsidered, the Act required the current administrator to make a new determination, which favored Houston. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, nominated by President Donald Trump, is serving as the acting administrator.
Cornyn said he hopes that when current and future generations see the shuttle, they will find inspiration in subjects related to the space industry.
“Seeing this firsthand and understanding its significance will hopefully make a very positive influence on them and their life, and it would be great for tourism and the economy,” Cornyn said.
In a statement to the Mercury, the Smithsonian said it owns the Discovery and holds it, along with all its collections, in trust for the nation.
“The Smithsonian has a unique responsibility to properly manage, preserve, and make accessible the collections in its care for current and future generations to appreciate, enjoy, and study,” the research institute stated. “The Smithsonian carries out its stewardship responsibilities through systematic collections management policies, procedures, and plans based on professional and discipline-specific best practices. The Smithsonian will carefully evaluate any request to move Discovery in light of these obligations.”
A conservative lawyer who has said she was falsely accused of being at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been named to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to a copy of an email she sent to staff obtained by CBS News. The Virginia office was thrown into turmoil when its acting U.S. attorney was abruptly left on Friday.
Mary “Maggie” Cleary said in an email to staff on Saturday that she had been named the new acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to her email.
She replaces Erik Siebert, who resigned amid pressure from Trump administration officials to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James in a mortgage fraud investigation.
“While this appointment was unexpected, I am humbled to be joining your ranks,” Cleary told employees in the email. “The Eastern District of Virginia has a distinguished legacy upon which we will build.”
Cleary will take over an office in tumult over political pressure by administration officials to criminally charge James, a longtime foe of President Trump. The investigation stems from allegations that James provided false information on mortgage applications to get better loan rates for a home in Virginia.
The Justice Department has spent months conducting the investigation but has yet to bring charges, and there’s been no indication that prosecutors have managed to uncover any degree of incriminating evidence necessary to secure an indictment. James’ lawyers have vigorously denied any allegations and characterized the investigation as an act of political revenge.
While Siebert said in an email to colleagues Friday evening that he had submitted his resignation, Trump said in a social media post: “He didn’t quit, I fired him!”
Cleary recently rejoined the Justice Department as a senior counsel in the criminal division after working as a prosecutor in the Culpepper Commonwealth’s Attorneys Office. She also worked as deputy secretary of public safety in Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration and later served in Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ office.
Cleary wrote in an article for The Spectator World earlier this year about being wrongly identified in a photo which allegedly placed her on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 riot. Cleary, who at the time was working as a federal prosecutor in the Western District of Virginia, wrote: “Everyone knew I was a conservative. It was all over my resume. I was in leadership in my local Republican Committee. But I had not gone to the Capitol that day.”
She described being placed on administrative leave and interviewed by agents before later being cleared to return to work.
“In the last four years, I’ve been somewhat cautious about sharing my experience, but now, while Donald Trump is president, I feel emboldened to finally tell how, I, too, was targeted politically,” Cleary wrote.
At the time the article was published in May, she was interviewing to serve as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Cleary said she wanted that job “to end this type of treatment.”
Senator Tim Kaine – from the Commonwealth of Virginia – raised concerns across the nation when he stated that he found a foundational principle in the Declaration of Independence extremely troubling. The former Democrat Party vice presidential nominee seems to believe that our rights come from politicians and not Almighty God.
“The statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our government is extremely troubling,” Kaine said, comparing the idea that rights “come from the Creator” to the Islamic government of Iran.
“The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator — that’s what the Iranian government believes,” he said. “It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia (sic) law and targets Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities. They do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their Creator. So, the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.”
Understand, though, what Senator Kaine is saying – he’s comparing our Founding Documents to Islamic law – sharia. Our nation was created on a foundation of Judeo-Christian precepts and teachings – not Islam.
President Trump called out Kaine during remarks he delivered at the Museum of the Bible. He said he found the senator’s remarks to be very troubling.
“It is tyrants who are denying our rights and the rights that come from God and it’s this Declaration of Independence that proclaims we’re endowed by our Creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Trump said. “The senator from Virginia should be ashamed of himself.”
“As president, I will always defend our nation’s glorious heritage, and we will protect the Judeo-Christian principles of our founding, and we will protect them with vigor,” Trump added.
Dr. Ben Carson, writing on X, said it is “deeply troubling to hear Senator Kaine dismiss the truth that our rights come from our Creator. This is anti-American. When lawmakers believe they grant rights they believe they can take them away. That’s exactly the problem with some Democrats these days. I encourage the Senator to read our Declaration of Independence which clearly states that our rights are endowed by God, not granted by government.”
And Senator Kaine is not a far-left radical – like Jasmine Crockett or Ilhan Omar or Rashida Tlaib. He’s a mainstream Democrat – from Virginia of all places. Therefore, we have no other choice but to believe that Democrats are comfortable rejecting the Christian teachings that flavor our Founding Documents.
I was at the DNC meeting in Charlotte in 2012 when delegates literally booed and heckled God. They tried to remove him from the party platform. So, maybe the senator’s remarks should not be all that surprising after all.
Speaker Mike Johnson, writing on X, said the senator’s remarks were unbelievable.
“On the eve of the 250thanniversary of our Declaration, a sitting U.S.senator insists we should no longer hold the most basic self-evident truth,” the Speaker wrote. “If our rights are given by government and not by God, then the government can simply take them away. We know that Democrats would love that, but you are not supposed to say it out loud.”
John Adams – our second president – said that our Constitution is wholly inadequate for anyone other than a moral and religious people.
Teddy Roosevelt said the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally impossible for us to figure ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed.
So, why are the Democrats so eager to evict Christianity from the public marketplace? I contend that Democrats believe they are created in their own image – not their Creator’s. They literally called Barack Hussein Obama – ChicagoJesus.
Adams was right – when you take God out of the public square – you get chaos in the culture. Which is exactly what happened during the four years of the Biden Administration. Right is wrong, wrong is right. Our culture has gone slap crazy.
Your rights are God-given – not government-given. And no politician can take away that which God has given. This is especially true in the United States of America – the most exceptional nation on the face of the Earth.
It was a revolutionary concept 250 years ago and it’s still a revolutionary concept today. The United States of America – one nation – under God.
Syndicated with permission from ToddStarnes.com– founded by best-selling author and journalist Todd Starnes. Starnes is the recipient of an RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award and the Associated Press Mark Twain Award for Storytelling.
Congress only has a few weeks to avoid a government shutdown, but leaders of both parties are still a long way from agreeing on a stopgap spending bill to keep federal workers on the job.
For all the latest developments in Congress, follow WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller at Today on the Hill.
Congress only has a few weeks to avoid a government shutdown, but leaders of both parties are still a long way from agreeing on a stopgap spending bill to keep federal workers on the job.
Lawmakers need to approve legislation by Sept. 30, when a current funding measure runs out, ahead of the start of the next fiscal year on Oct. 1.
One of the few things that Republicans and Democrats do agree upon is that they will need to pass a continuing resolution, since there is not enough time to approve all 12 appropriation bills.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has pointed out that the Senate managed to pass three major appropriations bills before the August recess.
That’s a departure over the past seven years, when not a single appropriations bill was approved during the summer months by the upper chamber.
Still, Thune acknowledged, “There’s a lot more to do.”
Lawmakers in the House and Senate didn’t give themselves much time to work on a short-term spending bill, since they only returned from their summer break last week.
Leaders prepare for shutdown blame game
Leaders of both parties are already laying the political groundwork for assigning blame if they can’t reach an agreement before the shutdown deadline.
“The only way to avoid a shutdown on Sept. 30 is to work in a bipartisan way,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said recently on the Senate floor. “But Republicans are once again threatening to go at it alone, which will lead our country straight into a shutdown — a Republican-caused shutdown.”
Schumer said a shutdown can be avoided if there are negotiations on a bipartisan bill.
But Thune, in turn, has warned Democrats about making what the GOP sees as unreasonable demands.
“I hope … our Democrat colleagues will resist the calls from within for a shutdown and work with us to fund the government,” Thune said.
Many Democrats criticized Schumer earlier this year, arguing that he caved to President Donald Trump and Republicans, without taking a firm stand, before Democratic lawmakers voted for a continuing resolution that avoided a shutdown.
Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic leaders have been meeting regularly to make sure they are on the same page with their strategy for addressing any type of showdown.
What if a shutdown takes place?
If lawmakers are unable to beat the deadline, a partial government shutdown will begin Wednesday, Oct. 1.
A shutdown would not halt federal law enforcement operations, which have ramped up during the surge against crime in D.C.
Federal workers considered nonessential would likely be furloughed, so they would not work and not get paid.
But under legislation that was sponsored by Virginia’s U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and passed in 2019, federal workers would receive back pay for any lost wages during the shutdown.
While Kaine and Virginia U.S. Sen. Mark Warner have proposed legislation to secure pay for federal contract workers during a shutdown, that has not been passed by Congress.
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits would still be processed.
Most shutdowns over the years have lasted only a few days, before Congress acted.
But during Trump’s first term, a partial government shutdown lasted for nearly 35 days, which was the longest shutdown in the country’s history.
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Jeremy Green Eche took a chance and purchased the website HarrisWalz.com for $8.99 in 2020 when then-Sen. Kamala Harris of California was seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
“I just tried to grab her name and all the heartland governors I could think of,” he recalled Monday in an interview with The Associated Press.
This is not a new scenario for the 36-year-old trademark lawyer in New York City’s Brooklyn borough. Eche is a cyber squatter, a person who buys a domain with someone else’s name or brand for very little money, hoping to sell it to that person or brand for a large profit in the subsequent months or years. It is also called domain investing, given it can reap significant rewards.
In 2011, five years before Hillary Clinton selected Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine to be her running mate in the presidential race, Eche — then known as Jeremy Peter Green, before he got married — purchased ClintonKaine.com. After the former secretary of state made the pick, the squatter offered it to the campaign for a hefty return. They declined, so he sold it for $15,000 to a digital marketing company that turned out to be the Trump campaign. The website pushed anti-Clinton news with “Paid for by Donald J. Trump for President, Inc” emblazoned at the bottom.
Harris spent the weekend interviewing a half dozen potential running mates, including Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, according to two people with knowledge of Harris’ selection process. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private campaign deliberations.
Eche told the AP that he has not been contacted by anyone connected to the Harris campaign. In 2016, it took a week after Clinton selected Kaine before he connected with anyone from the Clinton campaign, and that was because he had a connection to the operation.
He is skeptical Harris’ campaign will reach out before they officially make the pick.
“Hopefully (Harris’) people are a little more savvy than Clinton’s people were,” he said.
Eche owns at least 15 websites tied to Harris and her selection of a possible running mate. In addition to Walz, he also owns HarrisPritzker.com, a nod to the Illinois governor; HarrisEvers.com, for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers; HarrisFetterman.com, for Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman; HarrisWarnock.com, for Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock; HarrisPeters.com, for Michigan Sen. Gary Peters; and several others.
But Eche does have a favorite among her prospective veeps.
“Walz is my favorite,” he said. “Of the people she is thinking about, Walz makes the most sense.”
He also owns 10 websites featuring Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s name and other Democrats, with an eye toward a possible 2028 presidential run.
Eche’s Walz website is now simply a blank chartreuse with the governor’s name in lower-case black letters, a callback to the artist Charli XCX labeling Harris “brat” in a tweet shortly after President Joe Biden ended his campaign, allowing the vice president to take on his operation.
That was his wife’s idea, he said. But the site links to his startup’s website — Communer, a site to buy and sell domains and trademarks — where he is offering the Harris slate for $15,000.
Eche supported Clinton in 2016, and he supports Harris this cycle. Yet his experience from 2016 — where his website turned into a pro-Trump site — doesn’t give him any pause in selling the Harris sites this time around.
“The Harris campaign has hundreds of millions of dollars, so if they don’t buy their own domain, that is kind of on them,” he said. “I’ve got to sell it to somebody. I know I could just donate it, but that is not really how this works. People with billboards aren’t donating their billboards to the campaign. It is just a property basically.”
A Harris spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked whether they plan to buy the domains.
Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, says he expects the Senate to take up a national security package, including aid to Ukraine, soon after senators finalize an agreement on immigration changes.
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Former President Donald Trump once wanted to withdraw the U.S. from the obsolete NATO alliance. 2024 presidential candidate Trump has said the same thing.
So Republicans in Congress, rather than securing the border, cutting spending, cutting taxes, reducing red tape, slashing regulations, shoring up the industrial base, or anything else useful, spent their time helping Democrats make sure he can’t do it if he wins.
Including some Republicans who have claimed to be ‘America First’.
The measure, spearheaded by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), was included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which passed out of the House on Thursday and is expected to be signed by President Biden.
The provision underscores Congress’s commitment to the NATO alliance that was a target of former President Trump’s ire during his term in office.
Some normally reliable “MAGA” votes, like Rep. Lauren Boebert, voted in favor of this measure, baffling supporters.
So Lauren how could you vote yes on NDAA and betray the Constitution and the American people? This is disgusting and not America First. Who are you?
Criticizing NATO in October, Trump reportedly called the alliance a “paper tiger.”
With the U.S. being by far the largest member nation of NATO, Trump has said repeatedly that it was time to put America First and insist that Europe begin pulling their weight.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio was far from the only Republican behind this bill.
After years of screaming about FISA abuses against Trump, here are some self-declared “MAGA” Republicans who just voted to renew FISA 702 surveillance:
Max Miller (OH) Lauren Boebert (CO) Mike Kelly (PA) August Pfluger (TX) Elise Stefanik (NY) Mike Waltz (FL) Ryan Zinke (MT)
It should be noted that while Congress’s constitutional role is to declare war, it hasn’t done so since World War II. Few in Congress seem concerned about that.
But on Thursday they voted to make sure a president couldn’t singularly take America out of organization in which belonging likely means more war.
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Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday “there’s a powerful argument to be made” for barring Donald Trump from the presidential ballot based on the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists holding public office.
“My sense is it’s probably going to get resolved in the courts,” Kaine said on “ABC This Week,” adding that Democrats’ focus should be on winning in 2024.
Legal experts have pointed to the 14th Amendment as a potential long-shot avenue to keep Trump from becoming president. The amendment includes a post-Civil War “disqualification clause” that bars anyone from holding public office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” The Constitution does not, however, spell out how to enforce this ban and it has only been applied twice since the late 1800s, when it was used extensively against former Confederates.
Election officials in battleground states, including attorneys general in Michigan and New Hampshire, have said they’re anticipating outside groups to file lawsuits on the matter, and are studying the legality of the provision and how it may disqualify Trump from appearing on ballots in their states.
Liberal activists have championed the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause and have already vowed to file suits to disqualify the former president, a tactic they have used against other elected officials to little success – though some prominent conservative legal scholars have recently endorsed the idea.
Does the 14th Amendment make Trump ineligible? Hear what law professor thinks
Kaine voiced support for the idea, saying, “The language (of the amendment) is specific: If you give aid and comfort to those who engage in an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States — it doesn’t say against the United States, it says against the Constitution. In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose … and that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as is laid out in the Constitution.”
Kaine also said that he had discussed using the provision with fellow senators during Trump’s second impeachment in 2021, remarking that he thought it would “have been a more productive way to go to do a declaration under that section of the 14th Amendment.”
He floated the idea of a censure vote in Congress under the 14th Amendment as an alternative way of holding Trump accountable and keeping him from holding public office again after the Senate acquitted the former president in a failed impeachment vote. Seven GOP senators joined the chamber’s 50 Democratic and Independent members in finding Trump guilty of inciting a riot on January 6.
Kaine noted that Virginia will host its own races later this year to decide the makeup of its split legislature in an election that will act as a window into the state of politics in the battleground state ahead of next year’s presidential race.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The General Services Administration announced changes in criteria for choosing a location for a new FBI headquarters on Friday, boosting two potential places in Maryland, which has been competing with Virginia for the bureau’s new home.
The new criteria give more weight to cost and social equity concerns than proximity to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
Maryland officials, including Gov. Wes Moore, were encouraged that the announcement “corrects the flawed approach released in September that ignored taxpayer costs and the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to equity,” they said in a statement.
Police in Maryland say five people leaving a cemetery after a funeral were wounded by gunfire after someone shot into their car from another vehicle.
More than one third of all U.S. energy consumption, and thus a significant source of climate change, is from heating and cooling homes and buildings.
A Maryland board has approved a settlement of more than $13 million to resolve claims of unpaid wages due to the changing of timecards at the state’s corrections department, after an investigation by the U.S.
A Maryland board has approved $2.9 million in compensation for a man who was wrongly imprisoned for 32 years for two killings he did not commit.
“Today’s revised guidelines are a critical step in the right direction,” said Maryland officials, including Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen. “This update is in line with the language we secured in last year’s omnibus funding bill that both delegations supported.”
Maryland officials, including Rep. Steny Hoyer and six other members of the state’s congressional delegation, remain confident that two locations in Maryland, either Greenbelt or Landover in the suburbs of the nation’s capital, “provide the best operational and cost-effective options for the new, consolidated FBI Headquarters,” they said.
“These sites meet and exceed the criteria laid out by GSA,” the officials said. “They are shovel-ready with exceptional access to transportation and will spur greater equity and opportunity, in line with the Biden-Harris Administration’s executive orders. We will continue working with GSA to ensure these factors are taken into consideration.”
Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner expressed concern about the changes in a joint statement of their own.
“The GSA didn’t pluck its initial criteria out of thin air — it spent years talking to experts and carefully deliberating on what is best for the mission of the FBI,” the senators said. “While we are concerned that these changes to the criteria will further delay what has already been a drawn-out, decade-long process to select a new site to replace the dilapidated headquarters downtown, we remain confident that Virginia continues to be a home run in every category, and encourage the GSA to draw this process to a close sooner rather than later.”
The General Services Administration announced it had reduced the significance of the new headquarters being near other FBI facilities to 25% from 35%. It also increased cost and social equity to 20% each.
Nina Albert, the administration’s commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, said consultations with the two state’s delegations “provided valuable feedback, and helped us refine our plan to maximize the value for the FBI and the public.”
“While the core elements of the site selection plan remain the same, we have updated the plan to incorporate new government-wide directives and to increase the consideration of cost to deliver better value for taxpayers,” Albert said in a statement. “We believe these adjustments will support a process that results in a site that best serves the FBI and the public for years to come.”
The General Services Administration said the three sites under review — Greenbelt and Landover in Maryland, and Springfield, Virginia — were selected in 2014 by the administration because they all met the baseline requirements of the FBI, including being able to accommodate the size of a new headquarters facility and meet the federal government’s unique security requirements.
The administration anticipates making a site selection in the coming months, it said in a statement.
Plans to replace the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., built in 1974, have been under discussion for 15 years. Momentum to pick a new site stalled during Donald Trump’s presidency, when plans to move the headquarters to the suburbs were scrapped in favor of a proposal to rebuild at the existing site.
Roughly 7,500 jobs are tied to the new facility, budget documents estimate.
Missed the second half of the show? The latest on the independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the discovery of documents marked classified in President Biden’s home and former office; and 4 mayors on challenges facing their cities.
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Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia announced Friday that he’s running for reelection in 2024.
“I have been really grappling with what to do with respect to my time in the Senate, and I’m very happy to announce that I’m going to run for a third term in the Senate,” he told reporters at an event in Richmond, Virginia.
Kaine’s announcement will likely come as a relief to Democrats as they face a difficult 2024 map and an uphill climb to hold their narrow majority. An open Virginia seat could have made for a competitive race. The Virginia governorship flipped Republican in 2021.
Video from Kaine’s event Friday was provided by CNN affiliate WTVR in Richmond.
Kaine, a former Virginia governor who was Hillary Clinton’s running mate in her 2016 presidential campaign, explained his decision on Friday, saying, “Here’s why in conversations with friends and especially with Anne and my family I’ve decided to run for a third term. I’m a servant. I love Virginia. I’m proud of what I’ve done. I got a whole lot more I want to do. So those are the four reasons.”
Kaine was first elected to the US Senate in 2012. During a roundtable discussion Friday before his announcement, he told participants he ran for Senate after 16 years in state and local office because there were issues he wanted to “get done,” including tribal recognition, marriage equality, immigration reform and advances in gun safety.
“We’ve done two of the four,” he said, adding that he thought the time might be ripe to reach a long-sought deal on immigration reform. “My gut tells me, and some of my conversations with colleagues, that the super-low unemployment rate in the country is opening the door again to a really good immigration reform discussion.”
HERNDON, Va. — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is promoting Biden administration policies as the key to advancing the nation’s “long-term economic well-being” in the lead-up to the midterm elections.
The former Federal Reserve chair visited a Virginia research and development business park with Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine on Friday and talked up administration efforts to revitalize America’s manufacturing capacity, spur computer chip production and upgrade the country’s infrastructure. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., was also in attendance.
Yellen’s visit is part of the Treasury leader’s ongoing tour of the U.S., as she and other administration officials try to quell the impact on Americans of persistent high inflation. Republicans say the administration’s outsized pandemic spending and other domestic policies have contributed to high inflation.
Voters have made clear that price increases are a top concern. A June Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll showed that 40% of U.S. adults specifically named inflation in an open-ended question as one of up to five priorities for the government to work on in the next year.
Democrats want to retain their control in Congress and will need to convince voters they can wrangle inflation, which accelerated in September. In Virginia, Yellen talked about how a boost in domestic industrial manufacturing will be one of the solutions.
“Our government’s failure to invest in innovation has had wide-ranging impacts on our long-term economic well-being,” Yellen said during her speech. “At the most fundamental level, it impacted our productive capacity.”
She said that over the past year, President Joe Biden’s administration “has begun to reverse that trend.”
“We have advanced an economic plan that finally puts innovation and technology at the forefront of our national agenda,” she said.
Kaine said Virginia “was a laggard in clean energy even up to five or 10 years ago.” But with investments from the new federal climate and health care law and other programs “we’re now positioned to lead the United States in offshore wind,” he said.
Yellen also attended a roundtable with local entrepreneurs and people representing Virginia colleges who are focused on semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and other emerging technologies.
“Together, our efforts are raising our economy’s aggregate production capacity,” Yellen said. “And in turn, we are raising America’s long-term economic outlook.”
Early voting is underway in many states, including Virginia.
