https://washingtonsun.com/virginia Virginia en-US Wed, 29 Jul 2026 21:30:16 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/trump-dulles-airport-renovation Jenna Monnin “Basic disasters” is how the president described two of the terminals that would be replaced. Wed, 29 Jul 2026 21:30:16 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/trump-dulles-airport-renovation President Donald Trump shared plans on Wednesday for a massive, $22 billion construction and renovation project at Washington Dulles International Airport.

The president, who’s pushing forward on projects to revamp iconic sites around Washington, D.C., showcased a scale model and pictures of the proposed new hub that would do away with the infamous “people movers,” add thousands of parking stalls and replace entire terminals.

“We are announcing plans to add more than 5 million square feet of new or renovated space,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We'll replace the current C and D concourses, which are basic disasters, all the while preserving the iconic original terminal.”

The architect Eero Saarinen completed the original terminal in 1962, the same year the airport, about 25 miles west of Washington, opened. The terminal’s iconic mid-century modern architecture features concrete columns and a concave cable roof.

Trump described Saarinen as “one of the great architects of the world,” but said the original terminal was both an “asset and a liability” because “nobody wanted to build anything near it.”

The airport could also get a new 32,000-space parking garage, which Trump said will be the largest in the world. The current largest parking complex is in Edmonton, Canada, with parking for about 20,000 vehicles.

United Airlines, which has a major hub at Dulles, described the timeline for the project as being completed “over the next decade.” Construction could start in the spring.

The project proposes do away with the fleet of people movers, which function like buses, transporting flyers between terminals.

“It's an impossible airport. You get off a bus, you go into a train, you get from a train, you get onto another bus,” Trump said.

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a “horseshoe train system” would replace the people movers and provide travelers with “easy access to all of your gates.”

The administration reviewed designs from more than 30 architects, and the president described the project as a “bipartisan” effort.

“Whether you're a Republican or Democrat, you don't want to go and be subjected to this airport because this airport, it's a terrible place to be,” Trump said.

United Airlines will help pay for the project, which is set to include the largest United Polaris lounge in the world, according to Trump.

“This is not requiring federal dollars,” Jack Potter, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, told reporters. “This is going to be airport-generated dollars, airline contributions — which is phenomenal.”

Trump said doing the airport construction “all at one time” would allow the project to be completed in a few years, far less than the original 60-year estimate if it was broken up into stages.

“It's time to ensure that the United States has the greatest airports anywhere in the world, and we're starting right here with the capital city,” Trump said.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/money/congress-spacex-stock-trading Samuel Larreal A spokesperson for Rep. John James told NOTUS his wife bought the stock because “the James children are excited about space exploration.” Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:05:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/congress-spacex-stock-trading Four members of Congress who sit in committees that directly regulate Elon Musk’s SpaceX now have a family stake in the company’s stock.

Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-California) and family members of Reps. John McGuire (R-Virginia), Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania) and John James (R-Michigan) have together purchased up to $130,000 in SpaceX stock since the company’s initial public offering on June 12.

All four lawmakers sit on powerful House committees that could influence SpaceX business operations — two on the House Armed Services Committee, which is charged with drafting a yearly defense authorization bill and has oversight of SpaceX, a major defense contractor.

James, who sits in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is deeply influential on AI policy, reported that his wife purchased up to $50,000 in SpaceX stock on June 12, the same day the stock went public.

“The James children are excited about space exploration and Liz purchased stock for them through a brokerage firm, like other members of the public were welcome to do,” Ryan Kazmirzack, a spokesperson for James, told NOTUS.

Cisneros disclosed that he bought $1,000 to $15,000 worth of SpaceX stock on June 18. Cisneros has been a vocal critic of Musk, particularly when the billionaire was leading President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative aimed at cutting government spending and the federal workforce.

Federal financial disclosure laws only require lawmakers to disclose their trades in broad ranges.

McGuire’s wife also bought up to $15,000 worth of stock in SpaceX on June 18, congressional records show. McGuire, who’s a member of the congressional DOGE Caucus, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Meuser acknowledged in a congressional filing that his dependent child bought up to $50,000 worth of SpaceX stock on June 15, three days after the stock went public. Meuser chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. The committee is charged with regulating the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Dan Meuser AP - 23284547029665 (3000x2000, AR: 1.50)Representatives for Cisneros, McGuire and Meuser did not respond to NOTUS’ repeated requests for comment.

“That is the very problem with members of Congress playing on the stock market. They frequently buy and sell stocks in businesses that they oversee from their congressional perches,” Craig Holman, a longtime congressional government ethics attorney for Public Citizen, told NOTUS.

“Members of Congress should not own or trade individual stocks in industries that they oversee. It is an obvious conflict of interest that any regular person can understand. Public service is a choice. Not just for members, but for their immediate families,” Donald Sherman, president and CEO of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told NOTUS.

The interest in having elected leaders in Congress that operate without conflicts of interest, or the appearance of conflict of interest, Sherman said, “has to supersede any inconvenience that a stock ban might have on a member or their immediate family.”

SpaceX's public offering has been controversial after shares were rushed into public stock exchanges, such as the NASDAQ, only 15 trading days after going public.

Democrats in Congress have already pressed stock exchange executives about their decision to expedite the usual cooling-off period that allows stocks to reach a stable price after the initial wave of excitement about a company going public passes. SpaceX’s share price dropped under its IPO price on Wednesday.

This year, the House and Senate have considered bills banning members of Congress from trading and owning individual stocks. A House Republican committee advanced a bill to ban members from trading stocks but would let them retain stocks they already own. A similar proposal is slated for a House vote next week as Congress prepares to leave town for August recess.

SpaceX is a conglomerate of Musk-founded companies that include xAI, which develops Grok and the social media platform X; Starlink, a satellite connectivity company; and SpaceX, a commercial rocket company. All of the companies rely heavily on government contracts from many federal agencies.

Last year, the Defense Department awarded a $200 million contract to major AI companies, including xAI. SpaceX also received a $4 billion contract with the Pentagon last month for threat-detection satellites and a separate $2 billion contract in May for networking technology. The National Defense Authorization Act has several provisions meant to accelerate the construction of the Golden Dome, a proposed air defense system for which SpaceX could become a contractor.

SpaceX has proved to be a popular stock even before it went public. In September, Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Michigan) bought up to $250,000 worth of SpaceX stock during a private offering shortly before the Pentagon announced a deal with xAI.
LisaMcClain (7720x5147, AR: 1.50)McClain, who has twice violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act’s stock trade disclosure rules, as NOTUS previously reported, defended her trades during a TV interview in January. She argued it was not insider trading, “because if it was we wouldn’t have bought a hundred thousand shares, we would’ve bought a heck of a lot more.”

Holman says when members of Congress aggressively trade individual stocks, it absolutely provides “the opportunity for insider trading, if they trade based on insider information on how business trends are expected to change.”

“They are in a position to affect public policies that can manipulate those business trends,” Holman said. “Members of Congress and their spouses should be prohibited from playing on the stock markets altogether while in public office.”
]]> https://washingtonsun.com/us-news/supreme-court-justice-amy-coney-barrett-swatting-incident-virginia Jenna Monnin Fairfax authorities coordinated with Supreme Court police to halt any intrusion, realizing the call about gunshots nearby was false. Thu, 28 May 2026 23:25:30 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/us-news/supreme-court-justice-amy-coney-barrett-swatting-incident-virginia Police intervened to halt a potential “swatting” incident targeting Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday night. A call to a police nonemergency line by someone claiming to be Barrett’s neighbor was made after 9 p.m. and targeted Barrett’s home in Fairfax County, Virginia, that she shares with her husband and children, police said.

“Officers immediately coordinated with Supreme Court Police personnel assigned to the residence and quickly determined that the report was fictitious,” the Fairfax County Police Department said in a statement to NBC News and several other outlets. “No additional police resources were utilized.”

Police dispatched to Barrett's home determined that the report was fabricated after speaking with the justice’s security detail.

The anonymous caller to police had reported the sound of gunshots, according to redacted Police Department audio released by freelance photographer Andrew Leyden on social media. Text before the transcript of the call notes that some information was censored to “reduce copycat incidents.”

The dispatcher described Barrett as “a high-priority resident of the county” who has “24-hour security coverage” at her home. Police were unable to reach the person who reported the alleged gunshots when they attempted to call back.

The attempted swatting incident against Barrett adds to the rising number of threats against justices and other political officials across the country.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh faced a foiled assassination attempt in 2022 after the controversial draft opinion was leaked in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case that overturned abortion rights nationwide. The assailant, who was sentenced to more than eight years in prison, cited her anger at the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and upend decades of federal abortion policy.

Chief Justice John Roberts called personal attacks on justices “dangerous” while speaking at Rice University in March.

“It’s got to stop,” Roberts said.

In February, President Donald Trump posted disparaging comments about the justices who decided against his sweeping tariff policy — though Roberts did not specifically point to those remarks.

The Supreme Court is deep into its busiest season as the justices move through cases before their summer recess begins in late June or early July. Several high-profile cases, including birthright citizenship and transgender athletes’ participation in women's sports, remain on the high court’s docket.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/virginia-supreme-court-congressional-lines Manuela Silva The state was one of Democrats’ few opportunities to pick up additional seats this fall. Fri, 08 May 2026 15:17:34 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/virginia-supreme-court-congressional-lines The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday overturned the results of the state’s redistricting referendum, in which voters narrowly approved new Democrat-friendly congressional lines.

Democrats hoped to net up to four more seats in the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms through the new maps, one of the biggest redistricting wins for the party in the monthslong redistricting war that has played out across the country.

“This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy,” Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote in the majority opinion.

The judges struck down the maps by a 4-3 vote, largely on procedural grounds.

In response to the ruling, Democrats quickly pointed to the fact that voters had signed off on the lines.

“Unlike Republican-led states that have redrawn their maps through backroom deals, the Virginia General Assembly let the people decide for themselves in a free and fair election,” said Sen. Tim Kaine. “If the Virginia Supreme Court had legitimate concerns about this referendum, the time to stop it would have been before three million Virginians cast their ballots. But the Court let the process move forward, and Virginians sent a message loud and clear: we see President Trump’s brazen power grab in states across the country, and we won’t stand for it.”

State Democrats echoed the sentiment.

“We respect the court,” said Virginia state House Speaker Don Scott. “But we will keep fighting for a democracy where voters — not politicians — have the final say. Because in Virginia, power still belongs to the people.”

Democrats launched intensive redistricting campaigns in Virginia and California, and flirted with the idea of redistricting in Illinois, Maryland and New York, in response to Republican redistricting efforts that began last summer in Texas at the request of President Donald Trump.

Democrats’ efforts to push back have gained additional urgency following a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, rendering minority-majority districts unconstitutional. That ruling has allowed Republican-led states new pathways to further redistrict, particularly in the South.

On Thursday, Republicans in Tennessee approved a new all-Republican leaning congressional map. On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on new district lines — a move also being challenged in court — that could score Republicans up to four more seats in the state.

Republicans in Alabama, Louisiana, and South Carolina are also trying to usher in new Republican-friendly maps that could significantly alter the ground game ahead of the midterms and give them an advantage.

“Justice has been served,” former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin wrote on X shortly after the ruling. “From the beginning, this was the most obvious violation of Virginia’s Constitution. Abigail Spanberger and Democrats in Richmond knowingly violated our constitution to disenfranchise millions of Virginians.”

House Republicans also cheered the ruling.

“Virginia Democrats’ corrupt scheme to rig the map has been crushed in court, restoring fairness and protecting the future of the Commonwealth,” Rep. Richard Hudson, the National Republican Congressional Committee chair, wrote in a statement shortly after the ruling. “The NRCC was proud to lead and fund this fight to uphold the Virginia Constitution and protect fair representation, and this win is yet another sign Republicans have the momentum heading into November. We’re on offense, and we’re going to win.”
]]> https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/dorothy-mcauliffe-congress-fundraiser-torie-clarke Taylor Giorno As chief Pentagon spokesperson at the start of the second Gulf War, Torie Clarke had been criticized for building the false Bush-era narrative that fueled a war against Iraq. Fri, 24 Apr 2026 16:10:58 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/dorothy-mcauliffe-congress-fundraiser-torie-clarke Torie Clarke, best known for her role as the chief George W. Bush-era Pentagon spokeswoman at the start of the second Gulf War, is co-hosting a fundraiser for Democrat Dorothy McAuliffe’s congressional campaign next Tuesday, according to an invitation obtained by NOTUS.

Clarke, who previously worked for three Republican presidential administrations and the late Sen. John McCain, is hosting the fundraiser with her husband, Brian Graham, at their home in Northwest Washington, D.C., the invitation indicates.

Clarke was assistant secretary of defense for public affairs to then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. She helped craft the narrative that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction” before the U.S. invaded in 2003. That turned out to not be true. Clarke is currently the president of the board of the Rumsfeld Foundation.
TorieClarke (1728x1152, AR: 1.50)The fundraiser price of entry ranges from $500 as a “guest” to $7,000 as a “host.”

Other event hosts include Evan Ryan, former President Joe Biden’s White House Cabinet secretary; John Podesta, the Center for American Progress founder and a Biden, Obama and Clinton White House alum; and Lauren Gillis, the former special assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, according to the invitation.

McAuliffe, the former first lady of Virginia, launched her bid for Congress last month. Virginia voters approved a measure to redraw the state’s congressional map that has McAuliffe running in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, which now stretches from Arlington to Augusta County. But a Virginia judge immediately blocked certification of the new map, and ongoing litigation is expected.

In the 7th Congressional District, McAuliffe is running in a crowded field of Democratic candidates including party-switching former Mike Pence aide Olivia Troye, former federal prosecutor J.P. Cooney, former CIA officer Adam Dunigan, state Sen. Saddam Salim and state Dels. Elizabeth Guzmán, Dan Helmer and Adele McClure. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman has said he plans to run in Virginia’s redrawn 1st Congressional District.

The United States is once again embroiled in conflict in the Middle East, as President Donald Trump launched strikes on Iran in late February, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and kicking off a conflict that’s sent gas prices skyrocketing.

Democrats in Congress have tried and failed repeatedly to pass war powers resolutions to rein in the president’s ability to take military action against Iran.

McAuliffe has not weighed in on the conflict in her social media posts, and a McAuliffe spokesperson did not respond to questions about her position on the war — or the optics of attending a fundraiser hosted by Clarke.

After publication of this article, McAuliffe spokesperson Jody Murphy told NOTUS: "As a mother of a military veteran who deployed to Iraq, Dorothy does not support President Trump's illegal war in Iran, which is killing Americans, costing us billions of dollars a day and has no clear goals or objectives." She did not otherwise address questions about Clarke hosting McAuliffe's fundriaser.

Clarke could not be reached for comment.

This article has been updated to include a statement from the McAuliffe campaign.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/congress/republicans-armed-services-congress-virginia-redistricting-pentagon-leadership Joe Gould Redistricting in Virginia could shake up which Republican leads Pentagon oversight on the Hill. Fri, 24 Apr 2026 09:02:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/congress/republicans-armed-services-congress-virginia-redistricting-pentagon-leadership The question of who will be the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee next year won’t be resolved until after the midterm elections. But the campaigning is already underway.

At stake is the panel’s top GOP slot — a powerful perch that helps shape defense policy, oversees the Pentagon and influences the party’s national security agenda.

Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers’ term as the lead Republican on the committee expires in January. Reps. Trent Kelly of Mississippi and Rob Wittman of Virginia are vying to replace him — and the showdown is heating up.

Armed Services leadership races are typically quiet, internal matters before they are decided by the House Republican Steering Committee. But the contest burst into the open this week when Wittman — the panel’s vice chair and Rogers’ preferred successor — was dealt a possibly politically fatal setback. Virginia voters on Tuesday cleared a path for a new electoral map that would drastically reshape his red-leaning district.

Then Kelly confirmed this week that he is running to be the GOP committee lead, and Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies on the Hill, told Politico he is considering it, too. Wittman, whose aspirations to follow Rogers haven’t been a secret, is one of multiple parties who have sued to derail the redistricting measure. The day after the election, a judge in one case blocked the state from certifying the results. The Virginia Supreme Court will take up some of the issues Monday.

The outcome of the court fights could upend how national security policy is decided on Capitol Hill.

If Republicans lose control of the House after November’s elections, the committee’s unique, bipartisan traditions still make the ranking member influential, and that leverage could grow if Democrats hold just a slim majority.

If Democrats do take the House, they are expected to confront Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth on a range of national security controversies — and the top Republican on the House Armed Service Committee can decide how obstructive or how cooperative his side will be.

The National Defense Authorization Act, produced reliably by the House and Senate armed services committees for decades, is one of the few pieces of major bipartisan legislation. While it does not dedicate funding, it's one of Congress’ most consequential must-pass bills, setting policy and shaping everything from weapons programs to service member pay.

The differences between Wittman’s and Kelly’s approaches are mostly stylistic.

Wittman is known as a deeply studious, affable and press-friendly lawmaker who has frequently worked across the aisle with the Seapower Subcommittee’s top Democrat, Rep. Joe Courtney, when Wittman chaired the subcommittee. Wittman is also seen as an advocate for naval readiness and shipbuilding programs.

“I’m still in the running,” Wittman said. “We're confident the Supreme Court is going to do its job and overturn this unconstitutional and illegal gerrymander. And nothing has changed for me.”

Kelly, a former National Guard major general, is known for his blunt decisiveness and as the vice chair of the House Intelligence Committee. He confirmed that he has been campaigning hard among Steering Committee members — “I’m not joking,” he promised — and outlined his resume. “Military service at a strategic level, Army War College [graduate],” he said. “Subcommittee ranking or chair on three of the HASC subcommittees — pretty much have a lot of extensive experience and obviously, understand the national security world.”

Defense insiders expect Rogers, the panel’s top Republican since 2021, to apply for a waiver to override the term limit and stay on as the top Republican if Wittman loses the redistricting fight, though Rogers declined to say whether he’d seek that path.

“I’m going to decide what I’m going to do after the November election,” he said, adding praise for Kelly and Wittman. “Both of them are great. I’m a big fan of both of those rascals.”

The House GOP Steering Committee typically chooses committee leaders based on not only seniority, expertise and leadership, but also fundraising ability on behalf of the National Republican Congressional Committee. But Trump could attempt to put his finger on the scale in favor of a less senior candidate, Jackson.

Jackson, who chairs the panel’s Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee, is a retired Navy rear admiral who formed a connection with Trump during his service as a White House physician. He’s seen as a more conservative and partisan figure than any of the other candidates.

“Trump wants somebody like that on every committee because they’re all going to investigate him,” said one defense lobbyist granted anonymity to speak candidly.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/judge-blocks-virginia-redistricting-gerrymander-pass-congressional-map-district-lines Torrie Herrington Virginia Democrats have vowed to fight the order. Wed, 22 Apr 2026 23:43:23 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/judge-blocks-virginia-redistricting-gerrymander-pass-congressional-map-district-lines A Virginia circuit court judge issued an order Wednesday blocking the results of the state’s redistricting referendum, which could net Democrats as many as four extra seats in the midterms.

In his decision, Judge Jack Hurley from Tazewell County said the referendum, which voters had narrowly approved the day before, was invalid, ultimately blocking the state from taking steps to enact the new district lines.

If the courts allow Virginia to enact the new congressional map, Democrats would likely be able to pick up 10 of the state’s 11 districts. The new lines would effectively bring the nationwide redistricting battle, spurred by President Donald Trump last year, to a statistical draw.

The ruling came after the Republican National Committee sued to block the referendum.

"Last night, Democrats only managed to squeak out a narrow 3-point victory despite burning tens of millions in cash and manipulating voters with misleading ballot language," a spokesperson for the RNC wrote in a statement to ABC News. "Every step of the way, Democrats lied and deceived Virginians to push forward what has always been illegal under state law, and today’s decision once again reaffirms that."

Virginia Democrats have vowed to fight the order.

“My office will immediately file an appeal in the Court of Appeals,” state Attorney General Jay Jones said in a statement.

“As I said last night, Virginia voters have spoken, and an activist judge should not have veto power over the People’s vote,” Jones added. “We look forward to defending the outcome of last night’s election in court.”

Earlier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump called the election results “RIGGED” in a post on Truth Social.

“All day long Republicans were winning, the Spirit was unbelievable, until the very end when, of course, there was a massive ‘Mail In Ballot Drop!’ Where have I heard that before — And the Democrats eked out another Crooked Victory!” Trump wrote in the post.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/campaigns/kalshi-suspends-three-political-candidates-who-bet-on-their-own-races Manuela Silva All of the candidates were fined various amounts after Kalshi contacted them regarding their trades. Wed, 22 Apr 2026 23:18:22 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/campaigns/kalshi-suspends-three-political-candidates-who-bet-on-their-own-races The prediction market platform Kalshi fined three political candidates and suspended them from its site after the company said they had bet on their own races.

Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana confirmed to NOTUS that the three candidates involved were Mark Moran, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia, Matt Klein, a congressional candidate in Minnesota, and former Texas congressional candidate Ezekiel Enriquez.

“Just like in traditional financial markets, bad actors will try to cheat,” Bobby DeNault, the head of enforcement and legal counsel at Kalshi, wrote in a press release Wednesday announcing the action. “Regulated exchanges must constantly evolve and adapt their systems to address insider threats. These three cases are an example of how developing proactive engineering solutions can help identify illicit trading activity.”

All of the candidates were fined various amounts after Kalshi contacted them regarding their trades. Moran, who received the highest fine of $6,229.30, “initially acknowledged being a candidate and violating the rules, but later stopped all communication with our team,” DeNault wrote in the release.

Klein and Enriquez, who were fined $784.20 and $539.85, respectively, both acknowledged their violations and accepted five-year suspensions.

In a statement posted on X, Klein apologized for his wager, calling it a mistake. He said that he had been “curious” about how the prediction market site worked and bet $50 dollars that he would win his primary.

“My experience, like many other Minnesotans, points to the need for clearer rules and regulations for these types of markets,” Klein wrote.

Moran, a former Democratic candidate for Senate who is now running as an independent in a longshot bid to oust incumbent Sen. Mark Warner, told NOTUS that he placed the Kalshi bid in order to generate attention both for his campaign and to test the effectiveness of the company’s enforcement.

“Elections can be entirely bought off prediction markets,” he told NOTUS in an interview, adding that if he is elected, he’d like to strengthen regulation of the nascent industry.

When he met with the Kalshi compliance team in February, Moran said he realized that the team wanted to make its “own press narrative of it.” So he decided to tell his own side of the story.

“This is a great day for me. I mean, my girlfriend’s pissed at me, yelling at me about it, but I'm like, ‘I’ve been waiting for this to happen,’” Moran, who starred on the reality TV show "FBoy Island" and worked as an investment banker, said. “No one was going to report on my ideas before.”

Kalshi said the three candidates had all violated a rule designed to prevent political insider trading. The prediction market site has been the source of scrutiny in recent weeks, as lawmakers decide whether or not to regulate the burgeoning billion-dollar market. Kalshi is valued at $22 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Lawmakers have also been considering ways to prevent insider trading on the platform and its competitor, Polymarket. Kalshi is currently regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Michael Selig, who was nominated by Trump in October to lead the agency, withdrew a proposed rule in February aimed at regulating prediction markets.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/virginia-referendum-yes-redistricting-gerrymander-new-congressional-maps-flip-four-seats-democrats Manuela Silva The new congressional district lines could give Democrats 10 of the state’s 11 seats in the midterms. Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:56:16 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/virginia-referendum-yes-redistricting-gerrymander-new-congressional-maps-flip-four-seats-democrats Voters in Virginia on Tuesday were projected to approve a constitutional amendment paving the way for new congressional maps to be used in this year's midterms, the latest turn in the monthslong redistricting wars playing out across the country.

Democrats could gain up to four seats in the House of Representatives through the new Virginia maps. The ballot question was a closely followed contest in a state that was one of the Democrats’ last remaining opportunities to make congressional districts more favorable to the party ahead of the midterms.

Virginia Democrats currently hold six of the state’s 11 congressional seats. The new maps would make 10 seats Democratic-leaning, based on recent voting history, with one district in the southwest part of the state remaining heavily Republican.

“Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they pushed back against a President who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress,” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger wrote on X shortly after the race was called. “As we watched other states go along with those demands without voter input, Virginians refused to let that stand. We responded the right way: at the ballot box.”

While the decision over whether to redistrict was left to Virginia voters, national figures were quick to weigh in and hit the campaign trail for the redistricting referendum. On Monday, President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson held a tele-rally to campaign against it. Over the weekend, Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark held separate events encouraging Virginia voters to vote yes.

President Barack Obama, who appeared in an ad for both the Virginia redistricting campaign and California’s Proposition 50, wrote on X shortly after the referendum passed that “Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet.”

“Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back,” he wrote.

The Virginia redistricting push is the largest by Democrats after California’s Proposition 50, which passed overwhelmingly in a November special election. But Virginia is a much more competitive state, making the referendum a much more competitive contest.

The measure’s ultimate fate is still playing out in court. The Virginia Supreme Court allowed the referendum to move forward to a vote while it weighs the redistricting amendment’s legality. At the center of the dispute is the “process, not the outcome,” that Democrats followed in the state Assembly in order to hold the referendum, the justices wrote in their ruling.

“Today, the referendum portion of this fight is behind us,” Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, Jeff Ryer, wrote in a statement. “Now, we enter the phase that will be decided through litigation.”

Even if the courts uphold the amendment, the state will return to its standard redistricting process — with lines drawn by a bipartisan redistricting commission — after the 2030 census.

Virginia Democrats announced plans in late October to redistrict, a move that surprised many at a time when attention was centered on Illinois, Maryland and California as the likeliest blue states to do so.

At the time, the Virginia state Senate’s top Democrat, Majority Leader Scott Surovell, said the redistricting push was meant “to address actions by the Trump administration.”

The next state that could redistrict is Florida, where lawmakers are set to take up the topic next week as part of a special session called by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. State lawmakers could add anywhere from two to five Republican-friendly seats.

“We will crush the DeSantis Dummymander in Florida next,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a post on X following Tuesday’s results. “Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

Key to the redistricting battles is also a pending Supreme Court decision over a provision in the Voting Rights Act that prohibits racial gerrymandering. If the Supreme Court overturns the provision, other Republican states may move to redistrict ahead of the midterms as well.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/former-virginia-lt-gov-wife-dead Manuela Silva Fairfax was once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party before facing allegations of sexual assault in 2019. Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:00:01 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/virginia/former-virginia-lt-gov-wife-dead Justin Fairfax, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia, and his wife, Cerina Fairfax, were found dead in their Annandale home on Thursday morning in what is being investigated as a murder-suicide, the Fairfax County Police confirmed on Thursday.

Fairfax, once a rising star in Virginia Democratic politics, was a former federal prosecutor who was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia in 2017. In 2019, he was accused of sexual assault at the same time Virginia’s then-Gov.Ralph Northam faced calls to resign over his past use of blackface. Fairfax denied the allegations. He ran for governor of Virginia in 2021, but came fourth in the Democratic primary.

Fairfax left the lieutenant governor’s office in 2022 to begin his own law firm.

“It’s high-profile in nature, it’s tragic in nature, certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a press conference.

Shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, the Fairfax County Police Department responded to a 911 call from the Fairfax’s Annandale home, where Davis said Fairfax appeared to have “shot and killed his wife inside of their home and then shot and killed himself.”

Both were found dead at the scene, Davis said.

Both of Fairfax’s teenage children were in the home when the shooting occurred, according to the police chief, adding that Fairfax’s son called 911.

Davis told reporters on Thursday that the couple was in an ongoing dispute over divorce proceedings, in which the former lieutenant governor had recently been served paperwork. Davis said that Fairfax’s wife had set up cameras inside the home, and he believed they were on at the time of the shootings.

Fairfax called 911 in January, alleging that his wife had assaulted him, but Davis said police were able to determine the allegation was false after watching video from the home.
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