Weekly Newsletter, 3.26.26
For over a month, the Department of Homeland Security has been subject to a partial government shutdown. Congressional Republicans let funding lapse for DHS rather than adopt common-sense reforms to protect individual constitutional rights and address the public safety crisis created by overly aggressive and poorly trained ICE and Border Patrol agents. While the Big Ugly Law provided nearly $200 billion to ICE and Border Patrol, the funding lapse means that Coast Guard, FEMA and TSA employees have now worked unpaid since Valentine’s Day. During the March recess, I visited TSA workers at Richmond International Airport to discuss how this latest partial government shutdown impacts them.
While continuing to push for reforms to hold ICE and Border Patrol agents to the same standards as every other law enforcement agency in the country, House Democrats have also initiated a discharge petition to force a floor vote on a standalone bill to fund TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard. I signed the petition last week. You learn more about the reforms sought by House Democrats and the discharge petition here.
While Senate Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating a funding package, President Trump has deployed ICE agents to 14 airports and keeps demanding that any funding bill include his voter suppression bill — the SAVE America Act. I shared how the SAVE America Act is nothing more than a modern-day poll tax with the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
Meanwhile, on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, I joined representatives from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Democratic Women’s Caucus, New Democrat Coalition and Congressional Progressive Caucus to call out the Administration’s targeting of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and applicants, who now risk detention and even illegal deportation under the Trump Administration.
You can watch the full press conference here.
Keep reading to learn what you may have missed since my last newsletter.
VISITING LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY LEADERS ACROSS THE DISTRICT
Each year, I meet with the local government representatives of the 15 jurisdictions that comprise the Fourth District to discuss their priorities and how we can work together to meet the needs of our shared constituents and communities. During the March recess, I met with local leaders from Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg, Sussex, Southampton and the Town of Waverly, as we discussed how federal policy is impacting their communities and how we can better support the priorities of our municipal governments.
These collaborations last year helped me bring $1 million each in funding for water infrastructure improvements for Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg and Surry among the more than $10 million dollars in Congressional Community Project Funding I secured in Fiscal Year 2026.
I also visited VCU’s Rice Rivers Campus in Charles City County to learn more about their incredible research and scholarship. At this 350-acre campus on the tidal James River, students and faculty work on the cutting edge of environmental science research, studying topics like water quality, native species conservation and ecosystem restoration in the Chesapeake Bay, James River Estuary and other pivotal waterways. During my visit, I learned about the removal of a dam and resulting reclamation of wetlands along Kimages Creek, a project recently featured on VPM PBS’s Virginia Home Grown. I also learned about VCU’s research on water quality, avian ecology and fish ecology, and work on the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Project, which has played a critical role in restoring oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay.
Back in Washington, I met with VCU President Michael Rao to discuss challenges and opportunities facing VCU and to discuss the University's impact on the Fourth District and Virginia as a whole.
Before heading back to Washington for another vote week, I joined Brunswick community leaders, members and supporters of the James Solomon Russell–Saint Paul’s College Museum and Archives for its 5th Annual James Solomon Russell Day Dinner. To recognize Russell’s impact on the Brunswick community, I introduced legislation last year to name the Lawrenceville post office after the founder of Saint Paul’s College.
ENERGY & COMMERCE COMMITTEE UPDATE
Last week, the Energy Subcommittee held a hearing entitled “Winter Storm Fern Lessons: Supplying Reliable Power to Meet Peak Demand.” Earlier this year, Winter Storm Fern covered much of the country with snow and freezing temperatures. Thanks in part to clean and renewable energy, the grid held up and consumers saved over $2 billion on their electricity bills.
Clean energy sources offer us incredible opportunities for increased energy stability and reliability, but the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans refuse to acknowledge their potential, instead choosing to villainize technological development by cancelling billions of dollars in tax credits and working to halt dozens of emerging clean energy projects. This only furthers our dependence on internationally imported fossil fuels and weakens our national security.
President Trump’s unauthorized war of choice in Iran continues to threaten the stability of our energy resources. Gas prices have skyrocketed almost a dollar on average over the last month and continue to rise. The Administration has even eased sanctions on Russia to try to keep energy costs affordable, supporting one of the world’s biggest exporters of chaos and instability to cover up their failure to deliver on their promises.
During the Energy Subcommittee hearing, I focused on this intersection between American clean energy, electric grid reliability and national security. I also questioned energy industry leaders about how we can support clean energy projects to update our aging infrastructure and bolster the resilience of the American electric grid.
The next day, the Communications and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing entitled “Securing U.S. Leadership of Communications Technology,” which focused on the United Nations’ 2027 World Radiocommunications Conference in Shanghai. Hosted by the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the conference will review and revise the international treaty governing the global rules on spectrum use by wireless and satellite providers. Composed of 194 member states and more than 1,000 companies, universities and international and regional organizations, the UTI also develops technical rules for network connectivity and works to improve access to digital technologies in underserved communities worldwide. Decisions at the conference will set the stage for the next generation of wireless, satellite and lunar communications technologies.
During the hearing, the subcommittee discussed the need for the United States to have a forward-looking telecommunications policy perspective, ensuring the preservation of reliable and safe communications networks and supporting global innovation and economic development. While the United States maintains an outdated telecommunications policy, our competitors are developing advanced technology and shaping international standards in a way that does not always reflect our standards of transparency and commitment to the free flow of information. I stressed the need for the United States to have one unified voice at the conference to secure America’s dominance in information and communications technology.
MY BRIGHT SPOT: RULE OF LAW DAY
Each year, the Virginia State Bar hosts Rule of Law Day to educate middle and high school students about rule of law principles and three branches of government. During the March recess, I joined the students at the Supreme Court of Virginia to discuss the legislative branch before they were divided into groups to discuss different factual scenarios with attorneys, judges and law enforcement officers.
It was an honor to join fellow historymakers like Governor Abigail Spanberger, Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Cleo Powell, Judge Roger Gregory of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and former Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas to speak to the students about their place in our government by, of and for the people.
REMINDERS
Submit an original piece of artwork for the 2026 Congressional Art Competition for a chance to see it displayed in the U.S. Capitol! Open to any high school (grades 9-12) artists living in Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District, the deadline is April 20th, 2026 by 5:00 PM.
Stay tuned for more updates and keep the faith, friends!