Virginia’s Dulles International Airport has been awarded $35 million in federal funds to go towards the expansion of a new 14-gate terminal building.
The Dulles addition will mark the third expansion for commercial air travel in Northern Virginia.
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Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner on Thursday blasted the Biden administration’s handling of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters selection process and called for an General Services Administration (GSA) Inspector General probe of the matter.
FBI Director Chris Wray also said on Thursday that he has “concerns about fairness and transparency in the process and GSA’s failure to adhere to its own site selection plan.”
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Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are cosponsoring bipartisan legislation to expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services and “make permanent telehealth flexibilities that were enacted during COVID.”
The federal government dictates how Medicare and self-insured plans cover telemedicine, whereas Medicaid and fully insured private plans fall within the purview of the states.
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Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have announced $22.78 million in federal funding to reclaim abandoned mine lands in the commonwealth – supporting projects eliminating dangerous environmental hazards and redevelopment.
The senators touted the funding as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021, saying the money would boost the commonwealth’s economy while improving the environment.
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Legislation recently introduced in Congress aims to bolster further research and development of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including drone integration research taking place at Virginia Tech.
The legislation, introduced last month by U.S. Sens. Mark Warner, D-VA, and John Hoeven, R-ND, seek to extend the authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration’s UAS test sites for an additional five years. There are currently seven FAA UAS test sites across the nation involved in drone research, one of which is located at Virginia Tech.
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More than two dozen cities and counties across Virginia are slated to receive a portion of nearly $100 million in federal funding for affordable housing and homelessness, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, D-VA, announced this week.
Localities across the Commonwealth are expected to receive a portion of more than $98.3 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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U.S. intelligence agencies failed to predict how quickly Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, would fall to the Taliban, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Four agencies tracked the Taliban’s gains around Afghanistan starting in the spring of 2020 up until Taliban insurgents overthrew the U.S.-supported government in the capital city of Kabul, according to classified materials reviewed by the WSJ.
Around two dozen of the reports the WSJ reviewed predicted the Afghan government would collapse after U.S. forces withdrew, though none of them thought the government would fall as quickly as it did or with American troops still deployed in the region.
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White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan figures prominently in a grand jury investigation run by Special Counsel John Durham into an alleged 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign scheme to use both the FBI and CIA to tar Donald Trump as a colluder with Russia, according to people familiar with the criminal probe, which they say has broadened into a conspiracy case.
Sullivan is facing scrutiny, sources say, over potentially false statements he made about his involvement in the effort, which continued after the election and into 2017. As a senior foreign policy adviser to Clinton, Sullivan spearheaded what was known inside her campaign as a “confidential project” to link Trump to the Kremlin through dubious email-server records provided to the agencies, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe is famous for his voracious fundraising, from his roles as head of the Clinton money machine to his success the last time he was governor. But now his fund-raising is earning him some infamy.
McAuliffe, in a close race to reclaim the Virginia governorship against GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin, has for decades raised millions for his party and some of its marquee candidates including former President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary Clinton, a two-time White House candidate.
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President Biden addressed the nation late Monday afternoon to discuss the ongoing national security and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Some congressional leaders were furious at the Biden Administration’s lack of leadership on the issue. Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-02), a former Democrat who switched parties in 2020, lashed out and called for the resignation of President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) hinted Monday that the Cabinet should consider invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Biden.
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Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay-area U.S. representatives and senators are highlighting $83.7 million for the Norfolk Harbor widening and deepening project in President Biden’s recently unveiled $6 trillion budget proposal. The budget provision is a response to a letter Virginia’s congressional and senate delegation sent to Biden in March requesting the funds.
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After five days that saw Virginia’s gasoline availability plummet, the Colonial Pipeline is fully-operational as of Thursday evening. But the company says not to expect supplies to return to normal immediately.
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U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner introduced federal gun control legislation Thursday to mirror some of the laws that recently passed their home state of Virginia.
The policies include expanding background checks, limiting handgun purchases and enacting red flag laws at a national level. The senators are calling the legislation the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act.
“Virginia knows all too well the heartbreaking consequences of gun violence,” Warner and Kaine said in a joint statement. “We’ve seen it in the tragedies of Virginia Tech and Virginia Beach and the countless drive-by shootings, domestic violence, and suicides by firearm across the country. We’re proud of the Commonwealth for leading the way to advance gun reform; now it’s time for Congress to save lives.”
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Dominion Energy Chairman and Virginia philanthropist Thomas F. “Tom” Farrell II has died, causing the Commonwealth of Virginia and it’s political leaders to mourn the loss of one of the most powerful businessmen in Virginia history. Farrell, age 66, passed away due to cancer on Friday, one day after relinquishing the Chairmanship of the company he had steered from 2007 to 2020. Mr. Farrell and his family have heavily influenced some of the most important business and political decisions in the Commonwealth.
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Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said in a Tuesday press call that legislators who challenge electoral results are undermining Americans’ faith in democracy, but three of Virginia’s Republican congressmen support a challenge, and two have committed to vote to challenge the results.
Warner said, “We’ve got what traditionally has been a pro-forma event happening tomorrow, January 6, where the House and the Senate meet in tandem to basically count the certified electoral votes.”
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Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) is confident that the Senate will soon pass the two-part COVID-19 relief package he helped develop. In a Thursday telephone press conference, Warner described key provisions of the plan and addressed controversy over a stimulus check added to the package while also limiting provisions to extend federal unemployment benefits past Christmas.
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Over 800 table-sized satellites constantly falling in orbit at 340 miles above the earth are solving a problem for rural Wise County students, according to data from Wise County, Sky and Telescope and Space.com. The satellites are part of Starlink, a program from private rocket and space hardware company SpaceX that aims to bring high-speed internet to some of the remotest parts of the world. On February 1, 2021, 45 families will have access to the network, thanks to a program developed by the Wise County Public Schools.
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In October, President Trump signed a bipartisan bill aimed at improving mental health among veterans, according to Congress.gov. The Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019 included an initiative co-written by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Senator John Boozman (R-AR).
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Well over 200 people showed up on a rainy, gray Sunday to a Trump Rally supporting their Republican candidates: Scott Taylor for Congress and Daniel Gade for Senate. The rally took place inside the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson hosted the rally, with The Star editor-in-chief and Trump Virginia Delegation Chairman John Fredericks emceeing.
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Senator Mark Warner (D) and challenger Daniel Gade debated health care and social security at a Tuesday debate hosted by the AARP and WTKR News 3. Warner stressed his record including support of the American Care Act (ACA) and criticized the Republican Party for trying to dismantle it. Gade described some potential compromises to the ACA and repeatedly called Warner a career politician.
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Tuesday morning on The John Fredericks Show, host Fredricks welcomed candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia Daniel Gade to discuss why he’s running for office and how he is not a career politician.
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Incumbent Senator Mark Warner (D) and challenger Daniel Gade (R) debated police reforms, social justice, and COVID-19 at Norfolk State University on Saturday evening. The live-streamed event was the second debate between the two candidates. Warner touted his experience as a governor and senator, and cast himself as a middle-of-the-road Democrat. Gade portrayed himself as a free-thinker who nonetheless supports many traditional Republican values.
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Delegate Kathy Byron (R-Lynchburg) gave an insider’s view of Virginia right-to-life politics at a Zoom fundraiser for the Virginia Society of Human Life (VSHL) on Saturday evening. 100 people tuned in to the event, filling it to capacity. The fundraiser is part of a broader effort within the VSHL to motivate voters for the November election and raise awareness of a likely proposed amendment to Virginia’s constitution coming in 2021.
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Senator Mark Warner and his Republican challenger Daniel Gade will convene for a second debate at Norfolk State University (NSU) on Saturday.
According to NSU’s press release, the candidates will debate on “racial disparities and inequities in education, healthcare, economic mobility and the criminal justice system.” NSU is the state’s largest “Historically Black College and University” (HBCU).
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Republican challenger Daniel Gade appeared virtually on NBC4 for their first debate. NBC News’ Chuck Todd moderated the debate from Washington, D.C. with a live Zoom audience.
Topics included the Supreme Court nominations, COVID-19, the digital divide, policing, racial justice, immigration, and the election.
A poll from Roanoke College would have you believe President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Gade are in trouble in Virginia’s November election.
The chairman of the Virginia Trump delegation refutes the findings.
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Two U.S. senators introduced a bill on Tuesday to ban online social media companies like Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. from tricking consumers into giving up their personal data. The bill from Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Deb Fischer, a Republican, would also ban online platforms with more than 100 million monthly active users from designing addicting games or other websites for children under age 13. The bill takes aim at practices that online platforms use to mislead people into giving personal data to companies or otherwise trick them. The so-called “dark patterns” were developed using behavioral psychology. “Misleading prompts to just click the ‘OK’ button can often transfer your contacts, messages, browsing activity, photos, or location information without you even realizing it,” Fischer said in a statement issued by both senators. Restrictions on how social media companies collect information about users could hurt their ability to sell advertisements, a key source of profit. A website aimed at tracking dark patterns identifies behavior, such as a website or app showing that a user has new notifications when they do not. Warner said in an interview on CNBC that the legislation could be included in a federal privacy bill that lawmakers…
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by Molly Prince Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz criticized his Democratic colleague Sen. Tim Kaine on Sunday for holding a large portion of his constituency hostage in order to advance his party’s political agenda. “You’ve got my friend Tim Kaine coming on [‘Meet The Press’] in a minute, he represents Virginia,” Cruz told host Chuck Todd. “There are a lot of federal workers in the commonwealth of Virginia.” “If Tim Kaine and [fellow Virginia Sen.] Mark Warner were to say ‘We’re going to put the jobs of the men and women of Virginia ahead of our partisan interests, ahead of the fact that our base hates [President] Donald Trump,’ it would take only five more Democrats in the Senate to have the votes to say this second ‘Schumer Shutdown’ is over, we’re reopening the government and we’re going to implement common sense border security that the American people want,” Cruz continued. The Republican-led House passed a stopgap funding bill on Dec. 20 that included appropriations to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. However, with a 51-seat majority, Senate Republicans fell short of the necessary 60 votes needed to send it to Trump’s desk for signature. Consequently, a government shutdown has been in effect…
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