In The News

Sen. Tim Kaine led a panel discussion with local veterans in Dumfries last week as part of a weeklong tour of Virginia to hear the concerns of the state’s veteran population. “I’m really, really worried about what I'm calling the war on veterans that’s underway right now,” Kaine said. The March 17 meeting discussed the challenges faced by past service members, particularly the impact of federal workforce reductions and Veterans Affairs system issues. Kaine was joined by Army veteran and small bu...Continue Reading

Local Black farmers already beset by historic discrimination met with Virginia Senator Tim Kaine this week to discuss their concerns with Trump Administration tariffs and funding cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The gathering was organized by John Boyd Jr., a fourth generation farmer and founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association. The meeting at Boyd’s Baskerville farm marked one of 26 stops that Kaine made as he toured Virginia this week to hear from constituents...Continue Reading

Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and 13 of his Senate colleagues are demanding answers from President Donald Trump after a journalist was accidentally included in an unsecured group chat where top administration officials were reportedly coordinating U.S. military operations. According to reporting from The Atlantic, the magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a Signal group chat titled “Houthi PC small group.” The chat reportedly included members of Trump’s Cabinet an...Continue Reading

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia was in Damascus checking on Helene recovery efforts on Friday. News 5 spoke with him about President Trump's executive order to eliminate the Department of Education. Kaine is a member of the Senate health, education, labor and pensions committee, also known as HELP. According to a press release statement, Kaine said the order will have negative impacts on every student and will harm the economic growth of our nation. He said he will fight to make sure every st...Continue Reading

The Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus where almost 6 months ago, Helene completely destroyed portions of it. Town leaders are in the process of discussing recovery efforts to get the trail, back on track. On this day, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and agencies which included VDOT and the U.S. Forest Service, along with Damascus town leaders gathered. Senator Tim Kaine was last in Damascus in October. Right after Helene, I toured through downtown, it was a stunner, I mean seeing the extent of damage,, ...Continue Reading

Senator Tim Kaine visited the Framatome expansion on Mill Ridge Road in Lynchburg, where construction is underway to create over 500 new jobs, ranging from engineers to support staff. "Virginia is right at the center of this and Lynchburg is the key location really for nuclear innovation going forward," said Kaine. The senator's visit aimed to discuss federal policies, funding, and tax incentives that could accelerate nuclear energy development in the area. "If you look for the increased power t...Continue Reading

A new outpatient clinic for veterans in Chesapeake is set to open next month with about a fourth of the staff needed to fully operate the facility, which the clinic's proponents say is a direct result of President Donald Trump's federal hiring freeze and spending cuts. The North Battlefield VA Outpatient Clinic would have about 550 employees when fully staffed but will only have about 150 when it starts accepting patients April 17, according to U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who cosponsored a b...Continue Reading

Senator Tim Kaine hosted a roundtable discussion Monday with local veterans to discuss how the Trump administration's executive actions are harming veterans. "Sometimes the people who are being disadvantaged, those aren't the people who need to speak up," said Maurice Pettiford, who spent 20-plus years in the Marine Corps before going to the State Department. "There’s a way to do it with dignity and respect because many of the people they are cutting are veterans. I have no problem with needing ...Continue Reading

Two Virginia lawmakers are seeking answers from the Trump administration over proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. U.S. Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Wednesday that they are demanding answers from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins regarding his plans to cut more than 80,000 VA employees this year, including at least 20,000 veterans. In a joint statement, Kaine and Warner said the proposed cuts would have a harmful imp...Continue Reading

The deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown is fast approaching. The United States Senate has until one minute before midnight on Friday to pass what's known as a continuing resolution. The Republican-controlled House passed one earlier this week, but at least eight Democrats will have to vote for it in the Senate before it can reach the desk of President Donald Trump. Virginia's junior senator, Tim Kaine, said he will not vote for the House's continuing resolution. “Shutting down the go...Continue Reading

As a government shutdown nears, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says that he and his Democratic caucus will not provide the support needed to pass the funding bill that House Republicans muscled through their chamber. The bill would extend government funding through September. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia says he opposes the Republican-backed funding bill because it would weaken national defense. He says he’s not in favor of a shutdown either, and is pushing Republicans to support ...Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says nearly half of adolescents in the country face a mental health disorder in their lives. Now, federal lawmakers are working on a bill to bring more attention to that statistic and shrink that number. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine is now joining senators on both sides of the aisle pushing for a bill that would increase federal funding for prevention and early intervention programs. He says addressing mental health concerns early in children can ma...Continue Reading

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is one of three Democratic lawmakers spearheading a legislative effort to reinstate thousands of veterans who were fired from federal jobs as part of President Donald Trump administration’s mass layoffs of government employees.  Kaine, whose home state of Virginia has one of the highest populations of veterans in the country, introduced the Protect Veteran Jobs Act alongside U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.,  and Andy Kim, D-NJ, in an effort to reverse what they cal...Continue Reading

Senator Tim Kaine yesterday announced a pair of bills aimed at making childcare more affordable and increasing the supply of childcare providers. The bills have bipartisan support and are being introduced in both houses of Congress, according to a press release. Virginia is the 17th least affordable state for center-based childcare for infants and the 16th least affordable for center-based toddler care, according to a 2022 analysis of childcare affordability conducted by Child Care Aware of Amer...Continue Reading

In a move to prevent what they call an unnecessary and damaging trade war, U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia on Wednesday introduced legislation to roll back President Donald Trump’s controversial tariffs on Canadian imports.  The tariffs, which impose a 25% tax on goods from one of the United States’ closest allies and largest trading partners, have already sparked economic retaliation from Canada and drawn backlash from lawmakers, business leaders and consumers. “Americans want ...Continue Reading

U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) have announced $540,000 in federal funding for Floyd County to expand high-speed broadband in the region. The funding was awarded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), an economic development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments that innovates and invests to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in 423 counties across the Appalachian region. “This project perfectly highlights the good that federal ...Continue Reading

A defiant President Trump defended imposing new tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico – three of the United States' largest and most crucial trading partners – at a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Economists have repeatedly said that the 25% tariffs that went into effect this week on the three countries will raise prices on businesses and U.S. consumers. The tariffs are likely to affect car prices, groceries and other goods. But Trump said during his record-length address the tariffs were...Continue Reading

What’s going on with Donald Trump and the extended delay on the requested disaster declaration for Southwest Virginia? Trump took what his PR flunkies called “decisive action” on Feb. 25 to approve a disaster declaration for neighboring Kentucky, in the face of widespread flooding that affected the Kentucky-Southwest Virginia-West Virginia region. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Ninth District Congressman Morgan Griffith have been leading a bipartisan push to get the Trump folks moving on th...Continue Reading

Just hours before President Trump’s joint address, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) discussed the president’s mass government layoffs. Accompanied by Jason King, a disabled veteran who was laid off from the Federal Aviation Administration, Kaine called Trump’s actions unconstitutional. ”People have served their country and gained special skills in serving their country that can benefit the country for decades,” Kaine said. “To wage a war on them and set a record in six weeks as the president who’s fired t...Continue Reading

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) called President Donald Trump’s national energy emergency a “sham” Wednesday in floor debate on Senate Joint Resolution 10, a measure that would terminate Trump’s emergency declaration, which the president made via executive order on his first day in office. “America is producing more energy today than at any point in the history of this nation,” Kaine said. “America is the leader in the world in energy, and for the last few years, we’ve been an energy surplus nation,...Continue Reading