Congress | FFXnow

Walkinshaw and Whitson to face off in second candidate forum next week

Published August 15, 2025 at 2:45PM

James Walkinshaw and Stewart Whitson (staff photos by Jared Serre)

Fairfax County voters will have a second chance on Monday (Aug. 18) to hear from the two men vying to succeed the late Gerry Connolly as Virginia’s 11th Congressional District representative.

Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw, the Democratic nominee, and former FBI agent Stewart Whitson, the Republican nominee, will both participate in a candidate forum at 8 p.m. organized by the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area, a nonpartisan group that advocates for voting rights and civic participation.

News

NASA remains tight-lipped about Discovery space shuttle transfer plans

By Vernon Miles

Published August 12, 2025 at 10:00AM

Space Shuttle Discovery on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

One month after Congress passed a federal budget bill with a provision directing NASA to transfer a space shuttle to Texas, the space agency remains tight-lipped on any impending relocation plans.

The bill, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, requires acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy to identify a space vehicle to transfer to a NASA field center. The requirements stipulate that the ship must have flown into space, carried astronauts, and is selected with the concurrence of a nonprofit entity designated by the administrator.

News

Smithsonian warns potential Texas move could damage Space Shuttle Discovery

By Vernon Miles

Published July 30, 2025 at 9:15AM

Keep the Shuttle logo (photo via Keep the Shuttle/Facebook)

Houston, we have a problem.

President Donald Trump’s federal tax and spending bill allows for, among other things, the relocation of the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly to the Johnson Space Center in Texas.

News

Walkinshaw, Whitson spar over federal worker cuts, ICE in candidate forum

By Jared Serre

Published July 29, 2025 at 2:45PM

James Walkinshaw and Stewart Whitson (staff photos by Jared Serre)

The two major party candidates seeking to represent Virginia’s 11th Congressional District made their case to voters yesterday (Monday).

Speaking at the Reston Community Center in Hunters Woods, Democrat James Walkinshaw and Republican Stewart Whitson discussed a variety of topics ahead of September’s special general election.

News

Early voting starts tomorrow in special election for late Rep. Gerry Connolly’s successor

By Jared Serre

Published July 24, 2025 at 8:30AM

11th Congressional District candidates Stewart Whitson and James Walkinshaw (photos via campaigns)

Two months after the death of Rep. Gerry Connolly, voters will begin casting ballots to determine his successor.

The early voting period for the 11th Congressional District special election begins tomorrow (Friday). It will run through 5 p.m. on Sept. 6, ending three days before the scheduled election day on Sept. 9.

Countywide

Walkinshaw, Fairfax Democrats blast GOP-passed ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

By Jared Serre

Published July 14, 2025 at 2:45PM

Clockwise from top left: budget anlyst Andy Pavord, Braddock Supervisor James Walkinshaw, Sen. Saddam Salim, Del. Vivian Watts

Fairfax County Democrats are going on the offensive over the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” calling the legislation a “betrayal” that will hurt Virginians.

Speaking last Thursday (July 10) at a virtual roundtable, three local lawmakers took aim at the nearly 1,000-page budget reconciliation bill, which was signed into law on July 4.

Countywide

Federal tax changes could make it easier to build affordable housing, Fairfax officials say

By Scott McCaffrey

Published July 9, 2025 at 10:00AM

Tom Fleetwood, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development (screenshot via Fairfax County)

Fairfax County’s efforts to support additional affordable housing may have received an unexpected boost from the recently passed federal budget reconciliation act.

County officials are working through the details, but the changes in federal law could represent “a significant step forward” in financing affordable housing, Tom Fleetwood, director of the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development, told the Board of Supervisors at a housing committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday).

News

Smithsonian committed to keeping space shuttle in Chantilly despite relocation proposal

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 3, 2025 at 8:30AM

Space Shuttle Discovery on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has no intention right now of shipping off a centerpiece of its Chantilly facility to Texas.

The federal budget bill that squeaked through the Republican-led U.S. Senate on Tuesday (July 1) includes a provision directing NASA to transfer the Discovery space shuttle from its longtime home at the Udvar-Hazy Center to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, allocating $85 million toward transportation and construction costs.

News

Democratic Congressional candidates make their pitch to succeed the late Gerry Connolly

By Jared Serre

Published June 25, 2025 at 3:45PM | Updated June 27, 2025 at 1:34PM

Irene Shin and James Walkinshaw (staff photo by Jared Serre)

Local Democrats seeking to succeed the late Rep. Gerry Connolly sought to distinguish themselves from a crowded field yesterday (Wednesday), outlining how they would represent Virginia’s 11th Congressional District if elected.

Nine of the 10 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination attended the party’s lone forum at the Reston Community Center in Hunters Woods ahead of a primary election on Saturday (June 28).

News

Some, but not all, 11th District GOP candidates condemn ‘theatrics’ of DOGE cuts

By Jared Serre

Published June 24, 2025 at 1:45PM | Updated June 27, 2025 at 1:36PM

GOP Congressional candidates Lucas Rand and Karina Lipsman (staff photos by Jared Serre)

Roughly half of the Republicans seeking to represent Virginia’s 11th Congressional District condemned the process — but not the result — used by the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash the federal workforce.

Speaking to voters at a forum on Sunday (June 22), three of the candidates expressed a distaste for the way in which tens of thousands of federal government workers have been fired since President Donald Trump took office in January, allegedly to reduce spending.