GOVERNMENT + POLITICS
Remote voting in the U.S. House hits a second anniversary, but it may be its last
After two years of a temporary provision to allow remote voting in the U.S. House, the top 36 users of the proxy voting system are all Democrats, though Republicans have also taken advantage of it. Proxy voting was meant to keep crowds of House members smaller and thereby limit the spread of COVID-19, back in […]
U.S. Senate Republicans block bill requiring agencies to monitor domestic terrorism
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bill that would require federal agencies to monitor domestic terrorism incidents, including those potentially related to White supremacy. The failure of the Senate procedural vote showed again how difficult it is for Congress to agree on any response to U.S. gun violence. It followed a racist […]
Spare us your thoughts and prayers. Do your damn job.
It’s an appallingly familiar plotline. Only the names and places change. Tuesday, it was Uvalde, Texas. Ten days earlier, it was Buffalo. Before that it was Boulder, or Sandy Hook, or Orlando, or Columbine. It was Virginia Beach and Virginia Tech. It goes this way: bloody mass murder is carried out by man (isn’t it […]
Restoring rights a good gubernatorial move, but automatic restoration would be better
Former felons in Virginia, if they want to become better citizens, should be heartened. Gov. Glenn Youngkin just announced he’s restored civil rights, including voting, to nearly 3,500 people since he took office in January. The move continues a less-cumbersome process initiated by his predecessors, both Democratic and Republican. “I thought it was amazing in […]
Frustrated Democrats call for GOP help on federal gun laws after mass school shooting
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday implored Senate Republicans to work with Democrats to pass bipartisan gun control legislation, following a mass school shooting that took the lives of 19 children and two teachers in Texas. Tuesday’s massacre was the nation’s second-deadliest mass school shooting since another at Sandy Hook Elementary […]
Radio producers get restraining orders against Sen. Joe Morrissey after studio blowup
Two employees of a Richmond-area radio station took out restraining orders against Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, claiming the lawmaker’s angry outburst earlier this month over a producer’s comment about his abortion stance left them fearing for their safety. An Alexandria General District Court judge, apparently filling in for Richmond judges who avoided an issue involving […]
Virginia LG scheduled to speak at NRA fundraising event in Texas this week
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is scheduled to be the keynote speaker on Friday for a women’s luncheon at the National Rifle Association’s annual conference in Houston, just days after a deadly mass shooting at a Texas elementary school and another at a Buffalo grocery store pushed guns to the forefront of American politics. Tickets […]
Virginia official says staffers are leaving mental health facilities to work at Chick-fil-A
At a meeting last week, Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources John Littel made an eye-opening remark about the state’s understaffed and overstressed mental health facilities. “We’re losing a lot of people to Chick-fil-A,” Littel told the General Assembly’s Joint Commission on Health Care. “And hopefully the budget will help with that.” The staffing […]
Federal commission recommends new names for military bases named for Confederates
A commission tasked with coming up with new names for military bases christened for Confederate leaders, including three in Virginia, has released its recommendations. The commission, created by the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 and made up of eight volunteers selected by the U.S. secretary of defense and Congress, recommends new names for Fort […]
Virginia bans private funds for election offices after grants from Zuckerberg-allied group
Election offices in Virginia will no longer be able to accept private grant money under a new law passed in response to a $3.7 million infusion local election administrators got in 2020 from a nonprofit funded partly by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The grants from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which says it […]
After 11-month wait, Paul Goldman says he isn’t dropping his redistricting suit just yet
On Friday evening, Democratic attorney and activist Paul Goldman pushed out a text message with what he called “breaking news.” After an 11-month legal battle with the state of Virginia over whether the House of Delegates should have new elections this year, Goldman said he was planning to voluntarily drop the case. But in an […]
Feds seize 145 dogs and puppies from Cumberland beagle breeding facility
Federal agents have seized 145 dogs and puppies found to be “in acute distress” from a controversial Cumberland County beagle breeding facility operated by global biotechnology company Envigo. “Envigo has employed a paltry number of employees and elected to euthanize beagles or allowed beagles to die from malnutrition, treatable and preventable conditions, and injuries resulting […]