Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement after Israel attacked sites in Iran: “I am deeply concerned about the escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran and the risks for U.S. personnel and citizens in the region. I commend the Trump Administration for prioritizing diplomacy and working to curb Iran’s nuclear program, and for refraining from participating in tonight’s actio...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) are introducing new legislation in a continuation of their efforts to hold El Salvador accountable for its human rights abuses and its collusion with the Trump Administration to imprison people from the United States without due process. The senators’ legislation would apply sanctions on Salvadoran officials and others who have engaged in ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) joined by U.S. Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA-08), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD-03), Glenn Ivey (D-MD-04), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04), Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA-10), and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) wrote to the Inspectors General (IGs) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Army pushing for respective investigations into Federal Aviation Administration (...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and U.S. Representative Eugene Vindman (D-VA-07) slammed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s proposal to move the FBI National Academy from Quantico, VA to Huntsville, AL. The National Academy is a 10-week training program for local, federal, and international law enforcement officials. “As Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I expect Congress to be deeply skeptical of...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and Ranking Member of the SASC Subcommittee on Seapower, released the following statement after it was reported that the Department of Defense has launched a review of the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) submarine deal: “The Australia-U.K.-U.S. agreement, which I’ve been a strong supporter of, is critical to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. If this Administration is serious about cou...Continue Reading

BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO OF KAINE’S EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE HERE. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), delivered opening remarks at the SASC hearing on U.S. Navy posture. During his remarks, he discussed his concerns about President Trump and Secretary Hegseth activating thousands of National Guard members and 700 Marines in California—over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass—...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statement after a new Joint Economic Committee (JEC) report found that an estimated 302,608 Virginians would lose their health insurance under President Trump and Republicans’ tax plan: “This new report estimates that the Trump tax plan would cause over 302,000 Virginians, including low-income children and people with disabilities, to lose their health insurance—all to pay for tax cuts for billi...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) issued the following statement regarding President Donald Trump’s activation of 2,000 National Guard troops in California, over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, in response to immigration protests: “Trump is trying to escalate violence with this move. I strongly condemn violence on American streets of any kind, whether it be from demonstrators or law enforcement. As a former Mayor and Gove...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Ed Markey (D-MA) in introducing the Safe Operation of Shared Airspace Act of 2025 to strengthen aviation safety. The legislation follows Warner and Kaine’s years-long ad...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a former civil rights attorney and constitutional law professor, (both D-VA) issued the following statement regarding a provision in the tax proposal passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives that would make it harder for federal judges to hold government officials accountable when they act lawlessly: “The reason district courts are blocking many of President Trump’s actions is because these actions are illegal. Pr...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statement condemning provisions in the Republican tax plan that would weaken gun safety measures that have been in place since 1934 by eliminating registration and ownership requirements for gun silencers under the National Firearms Act, increasing danger for law enforcement officers while saving gun manufacturers millions in unpaid manufacturer taxes: “The Republican tax plan being pushed throu...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) issued the following statement regarding President Donald Trump’s revival of his travel ban policy: “Trump has said again that the latest travel ban is about targeting Muslims. So I’ll repeat what I said the last time he implemented this disgusting policy: Religious freedom is a Virginia value through and through, and it’s the First Amendment to the Constitution for good reason. Thomas Jefferson himself said we do not prefer or punish peopl...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today responded to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revealing that 16 million Americans would lose their health insurance under the Republican tax plan. The report highlights the devastating consequences of the GOP’s attempt to gut Medicaid and refusal to extend premium tax credits that help working families afford their health care. The senators issued the following statement: “Sixteen...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, (both D-VA) joined nearly 100 of their congressional colleagues in pressing the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and State regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghan nationals living in the United States. Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, nearly 200,000 Afghans came to the U.S. From 2018 to 2022, ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement regarding a provision in the megabill Republicans are ramming through Congress that would eliminate Direct File—a pilot program that allows Americans to file their taxes without making extra payments to tax preparation services—all so that Republicans can slash taxes for the wealthiest Americans: “If it were up to us, we’d be debating ways to put money back in the pockets of working ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) issued the following statements slamming an erroneous list released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that includes 20 counties—including Martinsville County, which does not exist—and 13 “cities”—including Duffield, a town with roughly 70 residents and no dedicated police department—as being “sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law.” There are no sanctuary cities in Virginia and various ju...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, (both D-VA) condemned the Department of Labor’s decision to shut down contractor-run Job Corps centers across the country, which will abruptly eliminate crucial job training for thousands of young Americans and cut nearly 13,000 jobs across the program’s 99 centers. Two affected Job Corps centers in Virginia – Old Dominion and Blue Ridge – serve 163...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a former civil rights lawyer and legal ethics professor, joined 26 of his colleagues to reintroduce the bicameral Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, legislation to require Supreme Court justices to adopt a binding code of conduct and create a mechanism to investigate alleged violations of the code of conduct and other laws. Specifically, the legislation would improve disclosure and transparency when a justice has a conne...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined 13 of his colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth urging him to preserve the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence at the Department of Defense (DOD) to minimize civilian deaths during combat. According to a Washington Post report, the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence was instructed by Pentagon leadership to halt all civilian harm mitigation work, including winding down the center and firing or re...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined 14 of their Senate colleagues in pressing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for answers regarding the firing of its constituent services liaisons—civil servants who work with congressional offices to assist constituents currently or previously serving in the federal government. In their letter to OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell, the senators raise concern over the lack of information from OPM regarding sign...Continue Reading