Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined 18 Senate colleagues to introduce the Age 21 Act, legislation that would raise the minimum age to purchase assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines from 18 to 21, the same age requirement that already applies to purchasing handguns from federally-licensed dealers. Assault weapons have been used by individuals under 21 to carry out some of the most devasting school shootings in U.S. history, including the shooting at Marjory St...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, (both D-VA) today joined U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and their Senate Democratic colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. expressing serious alarm over the Trump Administration’s decision to cut NIH funding – a move that threatens to undermine America’s biomedical research infrastructure ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), alongside his colleagues, introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Combating Illicit Xylazine Act. This bill would list xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance while protecting the drug’s legal use by veterinarians, farmers, and ranchers. Xylazine, also known as “tranq,” is an easily accessible veterinary tranquilizer that is being used as a low-cost cutting agent for fentanyl. The bipartisan Combating Illicit Xylazine Act would regulate xyla...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA-10) introduced legislation to designate the General George C. Marshall House in Leesburg, known as Dodona Manor, as an affiliated area under the National Park Service (NPS). Warner and Kaine advocated for years alongside then-U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton for an official designation, which would provide new resources to preserve and celebrate General Marshall’s l...Continue Reading

BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO IS AVAILABLE HERE. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to President Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “I don’t believe Mr. Kennedy can separate fact from fiction. I don't believe Mr. Kennedy can separate conspiracy from content,” Kaine said. “Now, you wouldn't want ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after President Donald Trump said he wants the U.S. Department of Education to be closed immediately: “President Trump lives in a fantasy if he thinks closing the Department of Education is a good idea. Americans know that the key to achieving the American dream begins with a good education. The Education Department provides crit...Continue Reading

BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO OF KAINE’S REMARKS IS AVAILABLE HERE. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, during a Senate Budget Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) slammed Republicans’ budget resolution that would tee up tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of middle-class Americans. Today, the Senate Budget Committee is beginning a legislative process known as “reconciliation,” which allows certain legislation to be expedited and passed in the Senate by a simple majority. Senate Republicans are...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, led his colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressing him for answers on the Trump Administration’s cuts to U.S. foreign assistance programs and its harmful impact on U.S. national security, including the abrupt curtailment of efforts to mitigate narcotics trafficking, migration, and cartel violence in the Western Hemisphere. ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act, bipartisan legislation to help reunite Korean Americans who have been separated from their relatives in North Korea since the Korean War. For Korean Americans who have immigrated to the U.S. since the war, there is no official channel to reunite with family members still in North Korea. “There are c...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in introducing the bipartisan Rural Hospital Support Act, legislation to prevent rural hospital closures by extending and modernizing critical Medicare programs. The legislation would permanently extend the Medicare-Dependent Hospital (MDH) program to ensure eligible rural hospitals are reimbursed for th...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) reacted to reports that the National Park Service plans to exempt certain law enforcement positions, including law enforcement rangers and public safety dispatchers, from President Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze. This follows a push from the senators and other Democrats in Congress. “President Trump’s hiring freeze on the law enforcement officers needed to keep Virginia’s National Parks safe jeopardized our pa...Continue Reading

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 ahead of the Senate’s vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI):  “The safety of our communities and America’s national security should be a top priority for any senator. Therefore, I simply cannot support Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to be Director of National Intelligence. The person filling this role s...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks (both D-MD), along with U.S. Reps. Don Beyer, Gerald Connolly, Suhas Subramanyam (all D-VA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today requested answers and commitments from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on its plans to protect the flying public in the wake of the January 29 collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines ...Continue Reading

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined their colleagues in writing a letter urging newly-confirmed U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to immediately take action to resolve looming staffing shortages at the National Park Service. National Parks have an immense impact on Virginia’s economy. In 2023, Virginia attracted over 23 million park visitors, which helped 21,000 jobs and generated over $2 billion in economic output in the Commonwea...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) unveiled a resolution affirming that the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and to express the sense of the Senate that the United States shall not deploy U.S. military assets or personnel to Gaza. The resolution rebuts President Donald ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led the introduction of the Foreign Assistance Accountability and Oversight Act, legislation to expand congressional oversight of foreign assistance decision-making. The bill would require the State Department’s Director of Foreign Assistance to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate and for all foreign assistance funding provided to the State Department or U.S. Agency for International Developm...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined Ranking Member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and 23 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins pushing him to take immediate actions to secure veterans’ personal information provided by the VA or other agencies to Elon Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). This call follows Musk’s takeover of the ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement regarding the confirmation of Russell Vought as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): “The American people deserve a federal government they can count on—one that is staffed by people who are hired based on merit and are committed to upholding the Constitution. And just like our federal workforce has our back—they deserve a Congress that will have th...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) to honor and remember the victims of the collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and U.S. Army Aviation Brigade Priority Air Transport 25 on January 29, 2025, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The resolution reads: “The tragic collision resulted in the loss of 67 lives, including passengers, ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) released the following statement after a federal judge paused the Trump Administration’s resignation buyout offer—just hours before tonight’s midnight deadline for federal employees to decide whether to accept the offer: “I’m relieved to see a federal judge temporarily block the Trump Administration’s sham buyout offer. The Administration has no clear authority to offer this deal. Recent reporting has indicated that the Trump Administration...Continue Reading