federal government

UPDATED: Pregnant asylum seeker who was detained at Dulles will return to Ghana

By Charlotte Rene Woods / Virginia Mercury

Published May 29, 2026 at 8:30AM | Updated May 29, 2026 at 6:01PM

Dulles Airport main terminal (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

After 10 days spent detained at Dulles International Airport, Ghanaian asylum seeker Anabella Gyasi and her son will go back to her home country. A judge with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ordered Friday that the pregnant woman cannot stay in the airport any longer.

“For the reasons stated from the bench, the Court finds that the welfare of the petitioners and the interests of justice are best served by allowing petitioners to return home immediately,” Judge Leonie M. Brinkema wrote after an emergency hearing the morning of May 29 in Alexandria.

News

Ex-CIA official charged with stealing millions of dollars in gold bars from federal government

By Associated Press and Angela Woolsey

Published May 28, 2026 at 11:45AM

The CIA seal next to a U.S. flag at the agency's Langley headquarters (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

A former senior CIA official with top secret-level clearance is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million from the federal government and stashing them in his home.

David Rush was arrested and charged with criminal theft of public money last week, according to federal court filings in Virginia, where he lives.

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JUST IN: Spanberger signs one bill to rein in ICE, vetoes another

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 20, 2026 at 12:45PM | Updated May 20, 2026 at 2:52PM

Scenes from a Jan. 11, 2026 ICE Out for Good protest on Maple Avenue in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has taken a mixed approach to bills from Fairfax state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37) intended to counter the Trump administration’s draconian approach to immigration enforcement.

The governor announced today (Wednesday) that she has signed SB 352 and its House of Delegates companion HB 1482, which ban law enforcement officers from covering their faces, while vetoing legislation (SB 351 and HB 650) that would restrict federal immigration agents from conducting civil arrests in certain public places, including courthouses, schools and health care facilities.

News

Dulles Airport lands $41M federal grant for Concourse E construction

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 20, 2026 at 9:15AM

Dulles International Airport Concourse E rendering (courtesy MWAA)

Funding for Dulles International Airport’s new Concourse E is still coming together, even as construction inches closer to completion.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded $41.8 million in grant funding for the project, whose first phase will add 14 gates intended for United Airlines — the airport’s largest carrier — as well as a direct connection to the underground Aerotrain and various amenities.

News

Report: New plan to overhaul Dulles Airport would cost $22B, finish in 2034

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 12, 2026 at 12:15PM

Mobile lounges at Dulles International Airport with the main terminal building in the background (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Less than a year after adopting a new master plan for Dulles International Airport, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is considering an update that would expand the facility’s main terminal, redesign its concourses and eliminate the polarizing mobile lounges.

Shared with airlines earlier in May, the proposed revitalization plan would cost an estimated $22 billion with an ambitious targeted completion date of 2034, according to the Substack-based newsletter Airport Architecture, which says it obtained an exclusive copy of MWAA’s presentation.

Countywide

DOJ investigation part of ‘pattern’ of partisan attacks, Fairfax prosecutor’s office says

By Angela Woolsey and Associated Press

Published May 8, 2026 at 9:15AM

Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano (staff photo by Jared Serre)

The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office isn’t backing down on its policy guidance for cases involving undocumented immigrants as defendants.

A day after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it’s investigating the policy for potential civil rights violations, a spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office criticized the probe as “the latest example of the Trump Administration’s own ‘pattern or practice’ of misusing the Justice Department to launch partisan attacks.”

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BREAKING: DOJ investigating Fairfax prosecutor over policy on immigrant defendants

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 6, 2026 at 3:50PM | Updated May 6, 2026 at 5:59PM

Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano speaks outside the Fairfax County Courthouse following a Fairfax High School student's sentencing for assault (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office over its handling of cases involving undocumented immigrants as defendants.

The Justice Department notified Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano today (Wednesday) that it has opened an investigation into his office’s policy advising prosecutors to consider defendants’ immigration status when making decisions about plea agreements, charges and sentencing.

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Report: D.C. region has its fewest federal workers in at least 36 years

By Trevor Baratko / Inside NoVA

Published April 28, 2026 at 10:45AM

A yard sign in Vienna expressing support for federal workers (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Washington region lost over 62,000 federal jobs from January 2025 to January of this year, putting the region’s federal workforce at its lowest figures since 1990, according to a new Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments analysis.

The D.C. region’s 16.5% dip in federal workforce was topped only by nearby Baltimore, which shed 20.5% of its federal jobs over the same time frame. The New York statistical area lost 7.4% of its federal jobs, and Philadelphia dipped 10.1%.

Countywide

Fairfax County started 2026 with more jobless residents than it did 2025, latest data shows

By Scott McCaffrey

Published April 20, 2026 at 9:15AM

Virginia Career Works Northern Region table at a University of Virginia job fair in August 2025 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The number of jobless residents in Fairfax County jumped by more than a third — 33.8%, to be precise — year over year to start 2026, according to new state data.

A total of 23,749 county residents were reported seeking work in January, up from 17,744 a year before, based on figures released April 16 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.

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Fairfax senator decries ‘toothless’ amendments to bills restricting ICE activities

By Emily Leayman

Published April 14, 2026 at 2:30PM

Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (photo via Senator's Office)

Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has recommended changes to bills on immigration enforcement from a Fairfax County state senator.

State Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37) had introduced Senate versions of the bills to restrict federal immigration enforcement in certain places, prevent law enforcement from wearing masks and ban state and local law enforcement agreements with federal immigration enforcement.