A Fairfax City post office could be renamed in honor of the late Rep. Gerry Connolly under bills introduced this week in Congress.
The legislation, championed by Rep. James Walkinshaw in the House and Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine in the Senate, would formally designate the post office at 10660 Page Avenue as the “Congressman Gerald E. ‘Gerry’ Connolly Post Office Building.”
Fairfax County Public Schools is one of just three districts nationwide facing a federal investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce, which alleges Jewish students are being harassed and subjected to open antisemitism.
The scrutiny follows the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 hostages, and Israel’s subsequent war campaign in Gaza that has left over 60,000 Palestinians dead. Tensions over the conflict have spilled into U.S. schools.
A Fairfax County woman joined Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week (Wednesday) to call for action with substantial increases to health care costs on the horizon.
With the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits slated to expire at the end of the year, 57-year-old Lili Combs stands to see her annual health insurance premiums increase by nearly $1,000, she said steps from the U.S. Capitol building.
All three of Fairfax County’s Congressional representatives say they will not support a legislative deal advanced late yesterday (Sunday) by the U.S. Senate to reopen the federal government.
Without a guarantee that health care subsidies will be extended, the latest effort by lawmakers to break the record-long stalemate over funding is a non-starter, Rep. James Walkinshaw, who’s in his first term representing Virginia’s 11th District, said in a statement.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is voting on the first steps to end the 40-day government shutdown Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who wanted to continue the fight.
The group of three former governors — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine — said they would vote to reopen if the Senate passed three annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune endorsed the deal Sunday night and called an immediate vote to begin the process of approving it.
By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown has entered its 36th day, breaking the record as the longest ever and disrupting the lives of millions of Americans with federal program cuts, flight delays and federal workers nationwide left without paychecks.
It hasn’t taken long for Fairfax County food banks to feel the effects of the federal government shutdown.
More empty shelves than expected greeted Rep. James Walkinshaw during a visit to Food for Others in Merrifield yesterday (Monday). He had stopped by the Western Fairfax Christian Ministries’ food pantry in Chantilly earlier that day.
Rep. James Walkinshaw (D) is one of three leading lawmakers introducing a resolution today (Wednesday) commemorating Jamal Khashoggi, a Tysons resident and journalist who was killed at the direction of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince.
The proposed resolution acknowledges the anniversary of Khashoggi’s 2018 killing, in addition to calling on the Saudi Arabian government to “ensure appropriate accountability” for those responsible for his death.
By KEVIN FREKING and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The pressure to end the second-longest federal government shutdown is gaining new urgency this week as millions of Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance, more federal workers miss their first full paycheck and recurring delays at airports snarl travel plans.
Affording groceries, already a challenge for many households in the D.C. region, could become an even greater obstacle next month for thousands of Fairfax County residents with the suspension of federal food benefits.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, is expected to pause payments at the end of next week unless Congress and President Donald Trump resolve the budget standoff that has closed the federal government since Oct. 1.
