Press Releases

WASHINGTON— Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation to provide federal employees with a 2.6 percent cost of living increase. Last year, President Trump announced a pay freeze for civil servants for 2019, which he can do unilaterally unless Congress acts. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on their companion legislation to this measure on Wednesday.  &ldqu...Continue Reading

WATCH HERE: https://timkaine.app.box.com/s/fd29r837y1iz75mzdulj8m6hu98c4qq9 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today in a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine raised concerns with President Trump’s repeated threats to withdraw from NATO. In the hearing, Kaine pressed witnesses on the importance of NATO as a strategic alliance to advance American security and highlighted a bipartisan bill that he has introduced to prevent any President of the United States from withd...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined 27 colleagues, led by Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), in writing to Margaret M. Weichert, Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), urging the Administration to provide back pay for federal workers as soon as possible. The Senators write, “More than 800,000 federal workers have gone without pay because the government shutdown locked them out of their jobs or required them to work without pay. The...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner led a letter with 26 colleagues calling on Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to improve guidance the Department of Education is giving to student loan borrowers impacted by the shutdown. In the letter, the Senators cited concerns that guidance the Department is currently giving borrowers does not help them navigate repayment options effectively and may cause borrowers to experience further difficulties navigating student lo...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $5,788,425 in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support HIV relief efforts in Norfolk. The goal of the project is to enhance access to effective, cost efficient, community-based care for low-income individuals and families with HIV. “We are pleased to announce federal funding to help those with HIV in Norfolk get the care they deserve,” the Senators sa...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $2,238,496 in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the Loudoun Community Health Center. This funding will enable Loudoun County to provide accessible, quality health care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. “We’re pleased to announce federal funding to ensure the Loudoun Community Health Center can continue to offer valuable care to those in need ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, DC –  U.S. Senator Tim Kaine cosponsored legislation to extend unemployment compensation to federal employees who are working without pay during the government shutdown. Currently, furloughed federal employees are able to seek unemployment compensation, but the Department of Labor has not determined whether the same benefit is available to employees who are working without pay.  “This shutdown is hurting millions of Americans and it must end now. I’ve hear...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Patty Murray (D-WA), Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Emergency Relief for Federal Workers Act of 2019 to ensure that federal employees can access money from their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) without penalty. The bill would waive penalties and contribution prohibitions as a result of financial hardship during the government shutdown. “This painful shutdown is affecting the ability of federal workers to p...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after the Senate’s vote on a clean bill to reopen government, which failed 52-44:  “Today, I voted to end President Trump’s shutdown and provide much-needed relief to the millions of Americans who have been hurt, including the Virginians who will be missing their second paycheck tomorrow. I’m deeply disappointed that the vast majority of our Republican colleagues didn’t support reo...Continue Reading

~ Letters highlight arrangements reportedly made by some organizations and request details on any accommodations being made for families ~  WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) was joined by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) in requesting financial flexibility from childcare organizations for parents and guardians affected by the partial government shutdown. Among the expenses piling up for these families, who do not know when their next pay...Continue Reading

~ Virginia is home to more than 200 licensed breweries & industry contributes more than $9.3 billion to Virginia’s economy ~   ~ As a result of shutdown, Treasury Dept. isn’t approving labeling changes, new recipes, or permits for brewers and distillers ~ WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to inquire about the impact of the government shutdown on craft breweries in Virginia. The sh...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined 30 Senate colleagues to introduce the Raise the Wage Act of 2019, legislation that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024 and help expand economic opportunity for hardworking families. Raising the federal minimum wage would directly raise the wages of approximately 786,000 Virginians. “No one who works full time should have to live in poverty, but too often that’s the case,”...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today issued the following statement: "President Trump's remarks today failed to acknowledge the pain and suffering he has caused to federal workers, contractors, and millions of Americans with this unnecessary government shutdown, and his rhetoric toward immigrants was inflammatory and unproductive. We would be glad to review, starting this week, any proposals he has to respo...Continue Reading

~ Letter encourages USDA Secretary to ensure continued funding for the program, which provides aid to 776,000 Virginians ~ WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) sent a letter today to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, stressing the importance of sustained funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The lawmakers expressed concern with the agency’s ability to support states and grocery stores, following a decision by the United Sta...Continue Reading

Senators urge the President to immediately re-open the Department of Housing and Urban Development  2.2 million low-income households are at risk of eviction because of Trump’s shutdown  WASHINGTON – Senator Tim Kaine joined over 170 Members of Congress, led by Senator Mark R. Warner, in sending a letter to President Trump expressing concern that the shutdown will force Americans from their homes. Affordable housing programs in Virginia and acr...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Jack Reed (D-RI), Lindsey Graham, (R-SC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Susan Collins (R-ME) reintroduced a bipartisan bill to explicitly prohibit any President of the United States from withdrawing from NATO without Senate approval. Just this week, reports indicate that over the past year, President Trump repeatedly raised withdrawing the United States from NATO. The bil...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) in introducing legislation to secure back pay for the federal contractor service employees who continue to go without pay during the government shutdown. The bill—the Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act—aims to help low-wage federal contractor employees—including janitoria...Continue Reading

Senators Urge Trump to Meet Face-to-Face with Federal Workers  WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led a letter with U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.) to President Trump urging him to meet with federal workers suffering from the impacts of the shutdown. The Senators write, “We are writing to ask that you meet with some of the federal civil servants who are either working without pay or locked out of their job as a ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement announcing he objects to the Senate leaving town while hundreds of thousands of federal employees – many of them Virginians – are going without pay:   “Millions of Americans have been hurt by President Trump’s shutdown, but Majority Leader McConnell has refused to hold a vote to end it. It would be outrageous for Senators to leave town this Wedne...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined 32 colleagues in writing to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb asking how the government shutdown has impacted the FDA and its work to protect public health. Warner and Kaine wrote out of concern about how the shutdown’s effects on the FDA could harm Virginians. “The shutdown has severely limited federal oversight of the nation’s food supply and medical products and may r...Continue Reading