Fight for her future: A car accident, a traumatic brain injury, and an immigration battle BY HEATHER GRAF - 09/13/2019 On November 12, 2018, Kitti Tong was walking home from work in Rockville. At the intersection of Beall Avenue and Gibbs Street, the 27-year-old was hit by a car. And in that moment, Tong says life as she knew it changed forever. She suffered a traumatic brain injury in the accident and spent the next ten months fighting to get back on her feet. She had to re-learn how to eat and... Read more

Wilbur Ross At The Center Of Another Political Storm, This Time About The Weather BY SCOTT HORSLEY - 09/10/2019 Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is under the microscope again, amid fresh allegations of meddling with a government scientific agency. The latest storm to engulf the secretary began Sept. 1, when weather forecasters in Birmingham, Ala., issued a tweet saying Hurricane Dorian posed no threat to their state. "We were reacting to the calls that were coming into our office, and people were ... Read more

Democrats call for Ross to resign for reportedly threatening to fire officials BY MIRANDA GREEN AND JUSTINE COLEMAN - 09/10/2019 Two Democratic lawmakers are calling for Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross's resignation following a report that he threatened top officials for contradicting President Trump's claims Hurricane Dorian might hit Alabama. Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) demanded the secretary step down in statements late Monday, saying Ross's reported threats were "an embarr... Read more

Wilbur Ross 'Needs To Resign Now' If He Threatened To Fire Top NOAA Officials For Tweet Contradicting Trump On Hurricane Dorian, Democrat Says BY SHANE CROUCHER - 09/10/2019 Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is facing calls to resign over a report alleging that he threatened to fire top officials at NOAA for a tweet disputing President Donald Trump's claim that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama. "If that story is true, and I don't know that it is, but if that story is true, the Commerce Secretary ... Read more

Wilbur Ross and the Trump War on Truth BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD - 09/10/2019 After a quiet couple of months, Wilbur Ross, the secretary of commerce, appears set on distinguishing himself again as the most compromised member of an administration that at times seems defined by ethical and moral flexibility. On Monday, The Times reported that Mr. Ross threatened last week to fire officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, not for doing their job poorly but for doing it well. Th... Read more

The Trump administration is downplaying the growing threat of white-supremacist terrorism. It is time for Congress to act. BY REP. DON BEYER - 09/09/2019 Two years ago, I watched with deep sadness as my beloved Virginia became the center of a national firestorm of attention during a weekend of hatred and violence. In the aftermath of Charlottesville, I hoped that we could at least take lessons from that catastrophe to help reduce hate-fueled terrorism. Sadly, subsequent events, most recently in ... Read more

Proposed ban on Pentagon spending at Trump properties gets new push BY CONNOR O'BRIEN - 09/09/2019 Democrats in the House are doubling down on proposed legislation to block military funds from being spent at properties owned by President Donald Trump, following reports that Air Force personnel stayed at the president's Turnberry resort in Scotland. The House voted in July to bar the Defense Department from spending money at nearly five dozen Trump properties worldwide — including Trump Turnberry... Read more

‘Stupidest act of narcissism to date’: Congressman nails Trump for desperate Hurricane Dorian map BY SARAH K. BURRIS - 09/04/2019 Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) nailed President Donald Trump for his desperate attempt to avoid the humiliation of not knowing which state was Alabama. Trump was ridiculed after saying that Hurricane Dorian was going to hit Alabama. The national weather service was forced to issue a fact check, calling out the president’s false statement. The hurricane is hitting Georgia, whic... Read more

Democrats eye action on threat of white nationalism BY MIKE LILLIS - 08/28/19 Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressing hard to adopt tougher gun laws following a pair of mass shootings this month that horrified the country and rekindled the on-again, off-again push to install higher barriers to owning firearms. But as Congress prepares to return to Washington next month from the long summer recess, Democrats also want to go a step further to tackle another scourge they consider to be related: the ... Read more

Federal News Network | A group of Washington, D.C.-area Democrats are urging the Agriculture Department to reconsider its decision to offer $10,000 buyouts instead of the max $25,000, to USDA employees who opted out of the Kansas City relocation. The lawmakers said those employees were counting on the larger Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments, and that the switch is quote unacceptable. USDA said it’s offering $10,000 buyouts to accommodate everyone who is eligible. But lawmakers said the sw... Read more