Newsletters
To all the mothers, I hope you had a fabulous Mother’s Day. To those who have lost a mother or child, I hope your memories provided more smiles than tears. In addition to mothers, last week we honored and appreciated teachers, nurses, public service workers and small businesses. Meanwhile, the House geared up for a marathon week of committee action on budget bills starting tomorrow.
DEFENDING FEDERAL WORKERS DURING PUBLIC SERVICE RECOGNITION WEEK
Last week marked 100 days of the Trump Administration as House Republicans began in earnest fleshing out how they would find the $1.5 trillion in cuts mandated by the budget resolution they passed last month.
Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly announced that this will be his last term in Congress. For over 40 years, Gerry has served his country, first as a congressional staffer and the last 30 in elected office representing his beloved Fairfax County. A passionate and pragmatic leader with a heart of gold, his work has made countless lives better. From my days as a state legislator to now serving as his colleague in Congress, I have learned much from him and am honored to be his friend. My prayers are with Gerry, Smitty and Caitlin in this next battle.
With all the chaos of this Administration, I know you all have lots of questions and concerns about the state of our country and where we’re headed. Last week, I joined 12 On Your Side to answer viewer questions and discuss everything from the Trump Administration’s irresponsible tariffs to Republican cuts to essential services like Medicaid and the troubling case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Last week began with me anchoring the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order Hour opposing the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.
Last week in Washington, the House did not conduct much legislative business when Speaker Johnson cancelled votes after failing to kill a bill allowing new moms and dads in Congress to vote by proxy. As the first member of the Virginia General Assembly to be pregnant and give birth in office 15 years ago, I know all too well the challenges pregnant women and new moms face in public office. Yet, Speaker Johnson refuses to make meaningful accommodations for House members who are pregnant or starting a family. So much for his commitment to family values.
Last week in Washington came with shocking news from The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg that he had accidentally been added to a Signal group chat between our nation’s top security officials discussing a pending attack on Yemen. “Signalgate” dominated the week — and the calls to my office from outraged constituents.
During last week’s House recess I was back in the district sounding the alarm on the damage Trump and Congressional Republicans have inflicted on two cornerstones of well-being for every family — their health and education.
It was a tense week in Washington as the clock ticked towards a government shutdown. House Republicans completely cut Democrats out of the process to ram through a 6-month funding bill that gave Elon Musk and Donald Trump a blank check to continue raiding federal agencies and traumatizing the federal workforce to ultimately fund tax cuts for billionaires. Unfortunately, the Senate went along with the plan. It was a lose-lose situation, as both a government shutdown and the funding bill to avoid it would hurt Virginia.
During last week’s Joint Address to Congress, we all hoped to hear the President put the needs of the American people above partisan politics and his usual lies.
Instead, we got a rambling mess of a speech in which President Trump seemed more interested in creating a spectacle than actually putting forth an agenda for the American people.