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Gerry Connolly backs former chief of staff to fill his Northern Virginia seat

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A former aide to Rep. Gerry Connolly has quickly jumped into the race to replace the longtime member of Congress from Northern Virginia — with the blessing of his former boss.

James Walkinshaw, a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors who served as Connolly’s chief of staff for more than a decade, cast himself as a fierce opponent of President Donald Trump’s agenda as he announced his candidacy Tuesday for the seat in the heavily Democratic suburb of Washington.

He comes with an endorsement from the retiring member of Congress, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, according to an open letter that was expected to be released Wednesday. It may be influential: Connolly defeated his Republican opponent by over 33 points in 2024.

“James brings unmatched experience, a depth of knowledge about federal issues, and a steadfast commitment to progressive values,” according to the letter, which was obtained in advance by Blue Light News. “When I took office in 2009, appointing him Chief of Staff was one of the best decisions I made.”

Walkinshaw, in a campaign announcement on social media, embraced Connolly’s liberal positions, including opposition to the NRA and support for abortion rights, while casting himself as an aggressive opponent of President Donald Trump sought by many activist Democrats.

“Trump is counting on us to be too scared or too complacent to fight back,” Walkinshaw said. “But I’m not backing down. Fairfax is my home, my family’s home. And I’ve been fighting for it my entire career.”

Connolly announced he would not run for reelection in late April due to the return of his esophageal cancer. In a statement, he also said he planned to step down soon from his leadership post on the oversight committee.

The announcement touched off jockeying among House Democrats looking to fill his spot on the panel. Rep. Stephen Lynch said he would pursue the post with Connolly’s backing last week. Blue Light News reported Tuesday that California Rep. Robert Garcia has been making quiet moves towards a run. Also interested is Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defeated in a challenge against Connolly for the post last year, has ruled out a move this time.

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Congress

Mike Johnson tries again to extend contested spy law

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House GOP leaders on Thursday unveiled the text of a new three-year extension of a key spy law, as Speaker Mike Johnson tried to overcome ultra-conservative resistance and pass it next week.

The proposed reauthorization of the so-called Section 702 law includes some new oversight and penalties for abuses of the spy authority but stops short of warrant requirements sought by GOP hard-liners.

Conservatives have pushed back on extending Section 702, which allows warrantless surveillance of foreigners, because of concerns about U.S. citizens being caught up in the program.

The faction that’s been opposing an extension has not yet signed off on the latest plan. GOP leaders plan to continue talks into the weekend.

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House GOP leaders scramble to sell Senate’s slimmed-down budget with promises of ‘Reconciliation 3.0’

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House Republican leaders want a floor vote next week on the Senate’s budget resolution, the first step in writing an immigration enforcement bill and passing it by President Donald Trump’s June 1 deadline.

“It has to be clean because it has to be quick,” Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday, indicating that conservatives could not make major changes to the other chamber’s blueprint at this time.

But Johnson and others still have to lock in support from conservatives who are threatening to vote against it if it doesn’t encompass more top GOP policy priorities, and it is proving to be a delicate balancing act.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (La.) met Thursday morning with Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (Texas) and leaders of key House GOP factions, according to four people granted anonymity to share details of private meetings — an effort to quell concerns among some conservatives about the narrow scope of the current plan. Arrington and other senior Republicans have been pushing to expand the party-line bill currently under discussion.

Johnson, Scalise and others in GOP leadership are promising that as soon as Republicans pass a bill funding immigration enforcement and some border patrol activities, they will get to work on another measure through the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process.

“We’re going to move right to reconciliation, what will now be 3.0,” Johnson said, referring both to the current plan and the tax and spending megabill Republicans passed last summer. “We’re going to do it as quickly as possible.”

Some of the ideas that circulated during the closed-door leadership meeting Thursday included opening up the possibility for more tax policy changes, addressing the Trump administration’s request for $350 billion for the Pentagon, additional funding for the Iran war and spending cuts across social programs in another package.

Arrington, who is among those wishing to expand the upcoming reconciliation effort, is seeking steep spending reductions to social programs and hopes to revisit Obamacare spending — including cost-sharing reductions, which would reduce out-of-pocket health costs.

Leadership of the Republican Study Committee, meanwhile, is demanding that any third reconciliation bill be fully paid for. There has been limited angst over “pay-fors” for the current party-line pursuit because the measure is an attempt to fund the immigration enforcement agencies and circumvent regular appropriations negotiations, which have been stuck for months.

But many Republicans are doubtful their party will be able to pass another party-line bill ahead of the midterms and see the immigration funding bill as their last bite at the apple. Some of them, including Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, are threatening to vote against the Senate budget resolution that would unlock the reconciliation process for the immigration funding measure unless it can incorporate more items from the hard-liners’ wishlist.

GOP leaders are now scrambling to stave off defections. Adoption of identical budget resolutions in both chambers will unlock the ability for lawmakers to write and pass a bill through reconciliation that would send tens of billions of dollars to immigration enforcement operations run through the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shuttered since February.

Republicans are on a very tight schedule to send this bill to Trump’s desk and pave the way for ending the record-setting DHS shutdown, given White House demands.

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‘Junior reporters’ pepper Hakeem Jeffries with tough questions

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Hakeem Jeffries celebrated Take Your Child to Work Day by taking questions from the children of the Capitol Hill press corps, but it got heavy fast.

The first question: “Why do voters view Democrats so poorly?”

Jeffries responded with a lengthy explanation of broad voter distrust in institutions.

“There’s a great frustration that applies to every organized institution in this country, and Democrats are not immune from that,” he said.

But, Jeffries added, “Consistently in state after state and race after race and contest after contest, irrefutably, the American people are choosing the Democratic Party.”

He fielded other tough questions from the “junior reporters” in the room, including if he would have voted to expel Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick if she hadn’t resigned earlier this week.

“She did the right thing in stepping down,” Jeffries said.

Other questions from kids in the room did tackle lighter subjects.

Jeffries’ favorite candy? Sugar-free Hershey’s chocolate.

What did he want to be when he grew up? A point guard for the Knicks or a hip-hop star.

Does he think the Yankees will win the World Series? “Hope springs eternal.”

And, simply, “What’s next?”

To that Jeffries said: “As Democrats, we’re fighting one battle after another, pushing back against the extremism that we believe is being released on the American people by Donald Trump and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.”

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