Dear Friend,

Congress is officially back in session — with 20 days to avoid a government shutdown by passing a funding bill. House and Senate Democrats stand ready to pass a bipartisan funding bill that improves the health, safety and economic well-being of every American. However, President Trump and the Republican House and Senate majority do not seem interested in doing that.

Last week, House Republicans spent their time fighting over the Epstein files amidst pressure from his survivors, re-litigating January 6th and passing an extreme partisan energy and water bill that will raise energy costs and weaken national security. Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee held a doozy of a hearing with Secretary of Health & Human Services Robert F. Kennedy.

We also saw the first closing of rural Virginia health care providers due to the Big Ugly Bill when Augusta Medical Group announced the closure of three primary care centers.

Read on for what you may have missed last week. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ EXTREME PARTISAN ENERGY AND WATER BILL

On Thursday, House Republicans passed their extreme partisan energy and water funding bill by one vote. Rather than addressing rising energy costs, which have increased 10% nationwide since January, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2026 (H.R. 4553) increases costs for American households, undermines infrastructure investments, and weakens our national security.

I spoke against the bill’s provisions slashing the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) nearly in half. 

EERE focuses on creating an affordable, reliable and secure energy system. It invests in clean energy technologies like solar, wind and geothermal, and works to improve the efficiency of our buildings and vehicles — all to lower costs, reduce pollution and promote energy independence. Totaling $1.6 million, the EERE cuts mean $3.2 million less for Virginia to help people reduce their utility bills, improve the energy efficiency of their homes and lower long-term costs for schools, businesses and our local communities. The EERE cuts include slashing programs like the Weatherization Assistance Program, which helps low-income families save hundreds each year on their energy bills and supports 8,500 jobs nationwide.

The bill also slashes efforts to accelerate clean energy innovation and cut energy waste by revoking more than $5 billion from the Department of Energy’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law resources, and eliminating funding for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. We cannot meet our growing energy demands quickly, cleanly and affordably by gutting innovation. We need smart, forward-looking investments that reduce waste, lower cost, create jobs, preserve our natural resources and move us toward energy independence.

The bill weakens national security and leaves Americans more vulnerable to nuclear threats by cutting the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation account by 17 percent. The bill also abandons commitments to clean up radioactive waste in communities by eliminating funding for the Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program and cutting the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management by 9 percent.

You can find a summary of the bill here and a fact sheet here.

FOCUSING ON REGIONAL WATER INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS

Earlier this year, the Richmond and Tri-Cities regions faced a series of water crises due to aging infrastructure. In January, the City of Richmond Water Treatment Facility suffered a catastrophic failure, triggered by a power outage during a winter storm. In July, a power failure caused Hopewell’s wastewater treatment plant to spill over 1 million gallons of raw sewage into the James River.  

Last week, I joined Senator Mark Warner, state and local officials in Hopewell for a roundtable on regional water infrastructure challenges and ways we can collaborate at the federal, state, regional and local level to address them. Read more about the roundtable from The Richmonder, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Progress-Index and WRIC. 

While I was pleased to obtain $4.8 million in community project funding for water infrastructure improvements in Colonial Heights, Petersburg, Prince George, Richmond and Surry in 2024, the region’s needs are far greater. In fact, I requested a total of $18 million in funding for these projects. Unfortunately, the FY 2025 funding bill did not include any community project funding. This year, I requested $8.4 million in funding for water infrastructure projects across the district. Stay tuned for whether any are included in FY 2026 funding bills.

MY BRIGHT SPOT: CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF GREGORY SWANSON

Seventy five years ago, 26-year-old Gregory Swanson applied to UVA Law School’s graduate program, the only one in the state. While the law school faculty supported his entry, the UVA Board of Visitors rejected Swanson’s application based on Virginia's racial segregation laws. Swanson filed a lawsuit in federal court, and on September 5, 1950, the court ruled this rejection violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Ten days later, Swanson became the first Black student admitted to the University of Virginia. His case laid the foundation for desegregation at the University of Virginia and other Virginia higher education institutions. 

Forty four years later, I followed the trail Swanson blazed when I enrolled in UVA Law. On Friday, I returned to the very room where the court heard Swanson's case to commemorate the decision and celebrate his legacy. 

You can see news coverage of the commemoration here.

Earlier in the day, I joined students at the Law School for a fireside chat hosted by the UVA chapters of The American Constitutional Society, the Black Law Students Association and Women of Color. During the conversation, I reflected on Swanson’s legacy and my path from UVA Law to Congress.

Friday’s commemoration provided an opportunity to see the progress we have made over the past 75 years and the legacy of an unsung hero in action in the next generation of lawyers.

REMINDERS

This Saturday, September 13 at 9 AM, join my office and Rep. Wittman’s office for a Service Academy Day event! Attendance is free, but RSVPS are encouraged at this link.

Applications are now open through Friday, September 19th for my 2025-2026 Youth Advisory Council.

Thursday, October 30th is the deadline to apply for the Congressional App Challenge and for a Service Academy Nomination.

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