Education

Today, Representatives Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) and James Langevin (D-RI) reintroduced the FAST Voting Act. The legislation aims to improve voter participation, encourage automatic voter registration and enhance voting system security. Based on the Department of Education’s successful Race to the Top program, the FAST Voting Act would allow states to apply for funding to implement innovative policy changes designed to increase voter access and voting system security. Rather than prescribe stric... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement after President Trump’s executive order seeking to reinstate his Muslim and Refugee ban: "This Muslim Ban 2.0 is still rooted in the same bigotry and discrimination that’s come to define this Administration. It’s un-American and antithetical to our values." Read more

Jenna Portnoy Health-care recipients. Immigrants with relatives who are barred from entering the United States. A champion of science education. Some Democratic members of Congress from Virginia and Maryland are protesting the policy goals of President Trump and the Republican majority with the guests they plan to bring to his big speech Tuesday night. A few of these members skipped Trump’s inauguration last month but have settled on a different approach to express their displeasure. Here’s a sa... Read more

By Greg Hambrick FAIRFAX, VA -- The Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax received a bomb threat on Monday. It was one of more than a dozen sites in the U.S. targeted in the latest round of threats to Jewish schools and community centers. After receiving the telephone threat Monday morning, the school followed safety protocols and worked with local law enforcement before school returned to normal activities, according to a statement by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. ... Read more

Michael D. Shear WASHINGTON — Across the vast federal bureaucracy, Donald J. Trump’s arrival in the White House has spread anxiety, frustration, fear and resistance among many of the two million nonpolitical civil servants who say they work for the public, not a particular president. At the Environmental Protection Agency, a group of scientists strategized this past week about how to slow-walk President Trump’s environmental orders without being fired. At the Treasury Department, civil servants ... Read more

On Monday evening, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) was unanimously elected Vice-Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Connolly was also named Ranking Member of the Government Operations Subcommittee, a position he held in the previous Congress. “As the House’s primary investigative committee, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has a responsibility to exercise thorough oversight of the Executive Branch, no matter who is in the White House. Our Committ... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement on President Donald J. Trump’s federal hiring freeze: “An across-the-board federal hiring freeze is a mindless way to manage. It fails to differentiate critical from non-critical issues. It fails to take into account the need to actually beef up certain capabilities in the federal government, like cybersecurity. This Executive Order, coupled with many of other anti-federal workforce policies being proposed in Congress, will have ... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement after President Donald J. Trump’s Inaugural address: “A troubling inaugural address. President Trump offered a dark, dystopian, and defiant inaugural speech that begins a new presidency without aspiration or reconciliation. It failed to unify or reach out to the entire nation, and insists on Trump's view of patriotism and triumphalism. Its insistent nationalism can only encourage Moscow and disconcert our allies.” Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) issued the following statement on his decision not to attend the Inauguration: "After long reflection I have decided that I cannot attend the inauguration of Donald J Trump on Friday. His behavior and harmful words during and after the campaign have left the country I love with open, bleeding wounds. Instead of binding those wounds, he has poured salt on them. Instead of unifying us, he has reveled in driving wedges between us. His disparagement of an entire rel... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly issued the following statement in opposition to the Republican budget resolution. I had a friend who often said, “if you are going to be a phony, at least be sincere about it.” This would be good advice for House Republicans who brought their budget resolution to the Floor today for a vote. House Republicans complained that 79 bipartisan hearings and markups was not enough deliberation on the Affordable Care Act. Now they are going to dive head first into a repeal with... Read more