Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Republicans blocked legislation led by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) that would have repealed the national energy emergency declaration Trump has used to give Big Oil handouts and bypass environmental laws. Senate Republicans also blocked this legislation from passage in February. “For the second time, Senate Republicans blocked our legislation that would have repealed President Trump’s bogus energy emergency,” said Kaine. “Because Rep...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a majority of Senate Republicans voted to block U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Senator Tim Kaine’s (D-VA) resolution that would have blocked the continued use of U.S. Armed Forces in the southern Caribbean Sea without an Authorization of Military Force (AUMF) by Congress. The vote followed multiple unauthorized military strikes on unidentified vessels. The Senators forced a vote on their War Powers Act Resolution, which got bipartisan support, to reaffirm that alle...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) introduced the Federal Employee Civil Relief Act. This legislation would protect federal workers, federal contractor employees, and their families from foreclosures, evictions, and loan defaults during a government shutdown. “Through no fault of their own, hundreds of thousands of dedicated public servants in Virginia have been furloughed or are currently working without pay. That creates real financial strain for f...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced that the Senate will vote today on their legislation to challenge President Donald Trump’s radical, cost-raising, job-killing energy agenda. The legislation would repeal the national energy emergency declaration Trump has used to give Big Oil handouts. Kaine and Heinrich previously filed this legislation in February, but Senate R...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (D-VA) are sounding the alarm after reviewing newly-released numbers from the Commonwealth’s health insurance marketplace. These numbers paint a grim picture for Virginia, forecasting a dramatic surge in monthly insurance payments for individuals, couples, and families across a wide variety of income levels. “It is baffling that anyone could look at these numbers and decide that the best course of action is to continue sitting idly by...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced legislation to support federal employees and contractors during a government shutdown. Kaine continues to urge Republicans to negotiate a deal to reopen the government, protect Americans’ access to health care, and prohibit the Trump Administration from illegally withholding funding appropriated by Congress. Senate Republicans have blocked Democratic legislation to do that. “Shutdowns impact Virginia more than any other state...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the federal government shutdown, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced legislation to secure back pay for the thousands of federal contract workers who face furloughs and missed paychecks when the federal government is shutdown. Unlike federal employees, the thousands of federal contract workers—including janitorial, food, and security services workers—have no assurances that they will receive back pay to make up for their loss of hours...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), released the following statement ahead of an expected Senate vote on a block of 107 nominees that includes William White, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Ambassador to Belgium: “Bill White is the perfect example of why it’s dangerous that Senate Republicans just changed the Senate’s rules to bury Donald Trump’s horrible nominees in long lists and rush them through without pr...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and Ranking Member of the SFRC Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, and 13 of his Senate colleagues called on President Donald Trump to immediately halt his plan to send a $20 billion bailout—funded by American taxpayers—to Argentina. Trump’s bailout comes after Argentina suspended soybean export taxes, directly undercutting American farmers, in the international market when they are already s...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the Emergency Relief for Federal Workers Act, legislation to support federal employees who are experiencing financial hardship during a government shutdown. During past shutdowns, many federal employees turned to their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) retirement accounts to make hardship withdrawals to cover bills. However, there are penalties for withdrawing these funds, and barriers to recontributing funds once the government reopens....Continue Reading

FULL VIDEO OF THE SPEECH IS AVAILABLE HERE WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) spoke on the Senate floor regarding President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans’ government shutdown. Senate Republicans have blocked legislation that would have funded the government, protected Virginians’ access to health care, and prohibited the Trump Administration from illegally withholding funding appropriated by Congress. Specifically, the legislation that Democrats proposed would r...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement after Republicans blocked passage of a bill to fund the government and protect Virginians’ access to health care: “Once again, Republicans have rejected a commonsense funding bill that would keep the government open, protect Americans’ healthcare and bring down the crushing costs they’re facing thanks to Republican policies. As soon as tomorrow, millions of families will begin receiving not...Continue Reading

FULL VIDEO OF THE SPEECH IS AVAILABLE HERE WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and Ranking Member of the SFRC subcommittee responsible for human rights, spoke on the Senate floor to express his strong opposition to President Donald Trump’s nomination of William White to be Ambassador to Belgium. White has repeatedly amplified posts of a convicted Belgian white nationalist influencer and Holocaust denier and voiced sup...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump’s meeting with military officers at Quantico: “Ordering America’s best military leaders to leave their duty stations at the same time to fly from all around the world to gather in one room to listen to highly partisan speeches is an incredible security risk and waste of taxpayer dollars. We sh...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and colleagues introduced the bicameral Help FEDS (Federal Employees During a Shutdown) Act, legislation to support federal employees who would be required to work without pay during a government shutdown. “Americans join the federal workforce because they want to help provide essential services to communities across the country,” said Kaine. “They shouldn’t be punished for that, especially in the event of a government shutdown. That’s why I’m gla...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $700,000 in funding awarded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for the Rex Theater Revitalization project to help the City of Galax preserve and highlight its unique cultural heritage as well as improve the long-term economic impact of the theater. “Southwest Virginia has a rich history worth protecting,” said the senators. “We’re thrilled that this federal funding will go towards the preservation and m...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, (both D-VA), and 40 of their Democratic colleagues sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an explanation regarding the State Department’s decision to suspend the issuance of temporary medical and humanitarian visas for civilians in Gaza in need of urgent medical care—including children with life-threatening injuries or conditions—and to restrict nonimmigrant visas...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), alongside U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), called on Senate appropriators to block any federal funding from being used to relocate Space Shuttle Discovery from its home at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Virginia to Space Center Houston in Texas. In a letter, the senators warned that such a move would waste taxpayer dollars...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) released the following statement regarding the Trump Administration’s malicious prosecution of former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey:  “I’ve had my differences with James Comey in the past, but I can spot trumped-up charges a mile away. Trump said he’d go after him, then fired a superb, ethical prosecutor when he refused to bring frivolous charges against those whom Trump perceived to be his enemies. Now he has i...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement on the memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last night regarding agency preparations for a potential government shutdown: “America deserves a leader focused on solving problems, not someone who treats chaos and disruption as tools of governing. Instead of threatening government employees and the American public with even more mass layoffs and federal dysfunction, Preside...Continue Reading