The Associated Press | ARLnow

Candidates in Virginia governor’s debate clash over shutdown and violent rhetoric

Published October 9, 2025 at 11:15PM

This combo image shows Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, left, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, right. (AP Photo)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia gubernatorial candidates Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger faced off Thursday for the first and only time on the debate stage in a fiery affair that was combative from the very first answer.

Earle-Sears, perceived by operatives in both parties to be trailing, went on the offensive throughout the hourlong clash, interrupting almost every one of Spanberger’s answers and referring to the congresswoman only by her first name.

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Troops will miss paychecks next week without action on the government shutdown

By The Associated Press

Published October 9, 2025 at 4:45PM

Aerial view of the Pentagon (staff photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Heather Campbell lost her job working for a food bank over the summer because of federal funding cuts. Her husband serves as an officer in the Air Force, but now he’s facing the prospect of missing his next paycheck because of the government shutdown.

If lawmakers in Washington don’t step in, Campbell’s husband won’t get paid on Wednesday. Because the couple lacks the savings to cover all their expenses, they expect to survive on credit cards to pay the mortgage and feed their three children, racking up debt as the political stalemate drags on.

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Federal government shutdown grinds into a second week, but quiet talks emerging

By The Associated Press

Published October 8, 2025 at 11:30AM

The Capitol is illuminated at dawn in Washington, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tours at the Capitol have come to a standstill. The House is keeping its doors closed, while the Senate is stuck in a loop of failed votes on a rejected plan to reopen the government. President Donald Trump is threatening to mass fire federal workers and refuse back pay for the rest.

As the government shutdown enters a second week, there’s no discernible endgame in sight.

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JUST IN: Trump administration threatens no back pay for federal workers in shutdown

By The Associated Press

Published October 7, 2025 at 11:45AM | Updated October 7, 2025 at 3:41PM

The Capitol is illuminated at dawn in Washington, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration warned on Tuesday of no guaranteed back pay for federal workers during a government shutdown, reversing what has been long-standing policy for some 750,000 furloughed employees, according to a memo being circulated by the White House.

Trump signed into law after the longest government shutdown in 2019 legislation to ensure federal workers receive back pay during any federal funding lapse. But in the new memo, his Office of Management and Budget says back pay must be provided by Congress, if it chooses to do so, as part of any bill to fund the government.

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Republicans and Democrats at an impasse as government shutdown enters sixth day

By The Associated Press

Published October 6, 2025 at 12:15PM

The U.S. Capitol is seen on the second day of the government shutdown, in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican and Democratic lawmakers have provided few public signs of meaningful negotiations to break an impasse on reopening the federal government as the shutdown entered its sixth day on Monday.

President Donald Trump, when asked on Sunday night when federal workers would be fired as he has threatened, told reporters: “It’s taking place right now, and it’s all because of the Democrats.” He declined to answer a question about which agencies are subject to the cuts.

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Attorney general candidate apologizes for 2022 texts depicting political violence

By The Associated Press

Published October 4, 2025 at 10:55PM

Jay Jones at a campaign appearance in Arlington (via Jay Jones/IG)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s Democratic candidate for attorney general has apologized for widely condemned text messages from 2022 that revealed him suggesting that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”

The texts put the Democratic challenger, Jay Jones, on the defensive in what has been a hard-hitting campaign. Early voting is well underway in Virginia ahead of the November general election.

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Justice Dept. fires key prosecutors in Eastern District of Va. office already beset by turmoil

By The Associated Press

Published October 3, 2025 at 2:15PM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department fired a top national security prosecutor amid criticism from a right-wing commentator over his work during the Biden administration, further roiling the prominent U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia after the ousting of other senior attorneys in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.

Michael Ben’Ary, who was chief of the office’s national security section, was fired Wednesday just hours after Julie Kelly, a conservative writer and activist, shared online that he previously worked as senior counsel to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco during the Biden administration, two people familiar with the matter said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

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Hopes fade for quick end to shutdown as Trump readies layoffs and cuts

By The Associated Press

Published October 3, 2025 at 1:30PM | Updated October 3, 2025 at 4:22PM

The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Capitol Building, as seen from near the Netherlands Carrollon in 2020 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hopes for a quick end to the government shutdown faded Friday as Democrats refused to budge in a Senate vote and President Donald Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government.

On the third day of the shutdown, another Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would reopen the government failed on a 54-44 tally — well short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the chamber would not be open for legislative business next week, a move meant to force the Senate to work with the government funding bill that has been passed by the House.

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What happens now that a government shutdown is underway?

By The Associated Press

Published October 1, 2025 at 8:30AM

Capitol Police officers adjust security barriers around the East Plaza at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. With just days to go before federal money runs out with the end of the fiscal year on Tuesday, Sept. 30, Congress has failed to pass legislation to keep the government running after becoming deadlocked during votes late last week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington is bracing for what could be a prolonged federal shutdown after lawmakers deadlocked and missed the deadline for funding the government.

Republicans supported a short-term measure to fund the government generally at current levels through Nov. 21, but Democrats blocked it, insisting the measure address their concerns on health care. They want to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer and extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable for millions of people who purchase through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.

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JUST IN: Government shutdown begins, with federal layoffs and economic impacts expected

By The Associated Press

Published October 1, 2025 at 12:05AM

The sunset is seen from the Capitol before Republican and Democratic news conferences about the government shutdown, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.

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Here are some effects of a government shutdown if Congress, Trump don’t reach a deal

By The Associated Press

Published September 30, 2025 at 1:45PM

A partisan standoff over health care and spending is threatening to trigger the first U.S. government shutdown in almost seven years, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The federal government is nearing a partial shutdown, with a range of effects on public services and the broader U.S. economy.

Employee furloughs and potential layoffs would halt some government activities. Other functions — like NASA’s space missions, Trump’s immigration crackdown and certain public health work at FDA and the USDA — would continue.

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Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted in N. Va. federal court

By The Associated Press and ARLnow.com

Published September 25, 2025 at 9:15PM

FILE - Former FBI director James Comey is sworn via videoconference before testifying during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, to examine the FBI "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation. (Ken Cedeno/Pool via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump’s chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.