U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, speaks during a hearing before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee April 14, 2011 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, you wrote an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch this week pushing back against the madness emanating from Washington regarding budget cuts and federal job layoffs. It was welcome, given the chaos in D.C., but what took you so long?
Are you, a Republican representing Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, really bucking a president from your own party – or is this just PR?
Among your column’s salient points: Washington should spend taxpayer dollars wisely; even then-President Barack Obama said as much in 2010. The national debt has passed $36 trillion. The massive red ink “jeopardizes economic opportunity for future generations.”
Then the key takeaway: “We need to pursue targeted savings – not reckless cuts,” you wrote. “That means using a scalpel, not a sledgehammer, when it comes to rightsizing the federal workforce or realigning federal spending.”
Your overall tack surprised me, since many Republicans in Congress – especially the House – have been scared to confront President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, he of the reckless chainsaw and chief of the dubiously named Department of Government Efficiency. Your colleagues have been much too obsequious, placing their jobs over the welfare of the country.
What spurred you to speak up now?
“I’ve spoken up from the beginning,” you said Wednesday in emailed responses to that question and others I asked. You provided links to recent news articles, too. Maybe I missed them, but the op-ed was more prominent.
“I called for a compassionate approach to federal workforce reforms, raised concerns after mass layoffs at the Department of Education, and advocated for Virginia’s research institutions to continue receiving federal funding,” you noted.
“I’ve shared personal stories from Virginia’s First District directly with cabinet secretaries and White House officials to ensure the human impact of these policies is fully understood.”
We’ll see whether those discussions have an impact, but it’s good you’re making the arguments.
Virginians are certainly incensed by the upheaval that the White House, the DOGE service (it’s not a real “department”), and feckless Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate majority have caused. They’re all a sop to large corporations and the nation’s wealthiest people. Under the ruse of slashing the debt, administration hacks and lawmakers are endangering the poor, disabled, immigrants and many more Americans.
More than 341,000 federal employees lived in the commonwealth in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and many could lose their jobs – even when there’s been no announced criteria for who stays and who goes, or an objective assessment of how essential their duties are.
I’m glad you’re publicly questioning the wisdom of what’s happening in D.C., Rep. Wittman. You’ve been in office since 2007, and won many of your electoral contests comfortably, so you can afford to do so. You could, however, do more.
You voted a few months ago for a budget blueprint in fiscal 2026 that targeted Medicaid, food stamps and other parts of the social safety net. The bill narrowly passed the House, 217-215, on a mainly party-line vote. Part of the goal is to extend the tax cuts passed in 2017 during Trump’s first term that are set to expire this year.
Those cuts worsened the situation. Trump’s first term saw the national debt rise by $7.8 trillion – a staggering amount.
You said your vote this year was procedural and didn’t enact any cuts: “It simply opened the door for future debate on a broader package …”
A “no” vote, however, would’ve broken with your party, sent a warning shot about the radical nature of this agenda, and forced the Trump-Musk partnership to reassess.
Nearly 2 million Virginians receive Medicaid or FAMIS, the state’s health insurance for children. Efforts to add work requirements for Medicaid, being debated in the U.S. House, would impact whether low-income Virginians still get health care.
When I asked about Medicaid, you replied that after meetings and talks with House leadership, “I am pleased to see Virginia’s vulnerable populations protected in the Medicaid portion of the reconciliation bill. There will be no change to the federal match rate.” You said illegal beneficiaries would be removed from the rolls.
We’ll see if all that happens.
You also skirted a chance to meet with your own constituents in April during a congressional recess, after the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee advised GOP members not to hold in-person town halls. Many Republican lawmakers followed that gutless advice.
Politicians don’t meet voters when they know their initiatives have incensed the hoi polloi – especially when constituents have no idea why certain jobs and programs are suddenly deemed “extraneous.”
Wittman constituents host town hall in his absence to address immigration, federal funding concerns
The Virginia Mercury reported that 150 people showed up to a town hall in Henrico County last month held in your absence. They criticized overbearing immigration crackdowns and spending cuts. The event was mockingly dubbed “Where’s Wittman?”
Incidentally, your website earlier this week showed you held three town halls last year. You also held a telephone town hall via Facebook in late March, the Mercury reported. One recent town hall, you said, reached over 9,000 constituents – though that’s not the same as facing people in person.
Maybe it’s easier to meet constituents face-to-face when indefensible policies aren’t on the agenda. As I wrote in late March, lawsuits and recalls to work of thousands of employees occurred after some of the initial, poorly planned federal layoffs.
I asked Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, what might explain your willingness to speak out so forcefully now.
As continued cutbacks are materializing, Farnsworth said, “People are getting really worried about how that affects them.” Your op-ed, he added, “speaks to the effectiveness of public opinion in shaping” the policies of lawmakers.
“The reign of Elon Musk has been very bad for the standings of Republicans in public opinion,” the professor said.
Rep. Wittman, I’m glad you’ve spoken out. Your words seem to confirm your commitment to improving the quality of life of the Virginians you represent.
The proof, though, will be how everyday Americans are affected following these budget negotiations. Many folks not in the top 1% are frightened by the possible outcome.
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Author: Roger Chesley
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