Election Protection Update

Hey folks. Here’s a message from my team on my work this week. Enjoy the weekend. – MRW

Happy Friday from the Warner press office. Well, it was another busy week for Sen. Warner as he fought ferociously on behalf of our democracy. While President Trump platformed lies and long-debunked conspiracies with a sad and desperate primetime address, Sen. Warner worked to get the facts out and restore trust in our democratic process.

While balancing that critical priority, Sen. Warner also stayed engaged in a range of other key Virginia issues – highlighting the domestic economic impacts of the Iran War and also fighting for federal employees.

There’s a TON to get into, so without further ado….

In case you missed it – and we really hope you did – President Trump gave a sad, desperate primetime address last night. The speech contained essentially nothing new. It was just a lukewarm reheating of old conspiracies and lies, paired with a document drop… that largely made it clear that one of the biggest threats to our elections is Russia working on behalf of President Trump.

While the speech itself was a total flop, the underlying threats are very real and need to be taken seriously. As Sen. Warner covered in his appearance on Jen Psaki’s show last night, this is a President who will go to any length to preserve his power, and we all need to be involved in the fight against that. You can watch his full appearance here.

Sen. Warner also got pretty direct on a broadcast with CBS… where he laid out the stakes clearly and made the case that every journalist and every American needs to stand up and not treat this moment like news as usual. You can watch some of that coverage here.

Last night wasn’t the end of Trump’s attempts to interfere – we are very much in the middle of a historic fight. His address was meant to disillusion the American people, shake our trust in the democratic process, and serve as a pretext for further interference in our elections.

What might that look like? Well, President Trump spelled out one option in his speech… he really wants to pass his voter suppression bill, the SAVE America Act.

Sen. Warner has voted against it many times previously, and he will continue to block it in the Senate.

That doesn’t mean these threats are over though – Trump administration officials have publicly considered sending ICE agents to the polls to intimidate voters and much more… and rest assured, Sen. Warner is working through the possibilities daily and continuing to press back against whatever form Trump’s interference continues to take.

After the address, Sen. Warner also issued the following statement:

“Tonight, Americans heard the president once again repeat claims about our elections that have been investigated for years and repeatedly rejected by the Intelligence Community, the FBI, DHS, DOJ, bipartisan state election officials, audits, recounts, and the courts. The facts have not changed.

“As Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I have spent years overseeing our nation’s efforts to defend against foreign meddling in our elections. China is a serious strategic competitor, and it absolutely seeks to advance its interests at America’s expense. So do Russia and Iran. We should confront those threats with facts, not distort them for political purposes.

“The Intelligence Community’s conclusions have been remarkably consistent across Republican and Democratic administrations. Foreign adversaries conduct espionage, cyber operations, propaganda, and influence campaigns designed to divide Americans and undermine confidence in our democracy. The Intelligence Community also concluded that China considered – but ultimately did not deploy – an influence campaign intended to affect the outcome of the 2020 election, and that no foreign government altered vote totals, hacked voting machines, or compromised the integrity of our election infrastructure. Even the minority view that President Trump cites agreed there was ‘no information suggesting China tried to interfere with election processes.’

“That distinction matters. The greatest danger to our elections right now is false narratives seized upon here at home as a pretext to convince Americans their elections cannot be trusted – or worse, to justify unprecedented federal intervention in elections that the Constitution entrusts to the states. Americans should recognize that danger for what it is. Our democracy depends on confidence in elections that are administered according to law by the states, not on falsehoods invoked to justify unprecedented government intervention.”

Rest assured, you will continue to hear from Sen. Warner about this.

In addition to these shocking attacks on our elections, Sen. Warner also reminded Virginians of another Trump failure… the war in Iran.

The economic news has been beyond bleak this week. As the ceasefire falls apart and the war in Iran continues to rage, diesel prices have surged back above $5/gallon. Gas prices are surging back up once again, over 22% higher for Virginians than they were at the start of the war… and even higher than that nationally! Those two factors will continue to send shocks throughout our economy, raising costs on absolutely everything you buy.

Curious for a little more explanation on the exact mechanism behind these price increases? Sen. Warner filmed a video a few weeks ago explaining it all…

Sen. Warner has continued to use his social media accounts to draw attention to the ways this war is spiking costs for all Virginians.

Additionally, Sen. Warner released new data this week that contextualizes this crisis… since the war began on February 28, Virginians have spent a total of $1.8 billion extra on gasoline! That means an extra $573 per household!

Americans are crying out for an end to the affordability crisis. Instead, Trump has delivered one of history’s worst-conceived wars of choice… and Americans’ prices are headed fast in the wrong direction.

After announcing this huge drain of Virginians’ budgets, Sen. Warner said,

“Because of the president’s war of choice, Virginians are facing higher gas, utility, and grocery costs. Instead of ending this war and finally easing the burden that he has placed on American families, Trump is calling off the ceasefire, trading airstrikes with Iran, and blockading the Strait of Hormuz.”

While many have moved on from the wreckage of DOGE.… Sen. Warner hasn’t! Thousands of federal workers and their families are still reeling from the economic or personal shock of this “agency.”

The truth is, the terror of DOGE went beyond dollars and cents – though it damaged thousands of families’ budgets and also probably cost the American taxpayer, too. For thousands of families, an entire career of dedicated public service was denigrated and dismissed overnight. Years of building a brighter government and a brighter world was suddenly extinguished by a group of men with fragile egos and horrible ideas.

For Sen. Warner, who has spent years hearing from federal employees and fighting for them, those attacks were personal. So when he had the opportunity to question OMB Director Russ Vought… he took it.

Sen. Warner GRILLED Vought on how badly he had terrorized federal workers. He also stood up for Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, which have had an exceedingly difficult time accessing their congressionally appropriated funds under Vought’s leadership.

It’s a devastating watch that will only take 5 minutes… highly suggest you watch the full thing here:

LAYING DOWN THE LAW: Sen. Warner announced $6,733,892 in federal grant funding for the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to help state and local law enforcement agencies strengthen crisis intervention systems, expand evidence-based diversion strategies, and improve public safety across the Commonwealth.

HOPING FOR HEALTH: Sen. Warner welcomed the House Ways and Means Committee’s unanimous passage of his Rural Patient Monitoring (RPM) Access Act and his Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act.

HONORING LINDSEY: Sen. Warner issued a statement on the passing of his colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham.

OFFSHORE MINING: Sen. Warner sent a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) requesting a 30-day extension to the public comment period for BOEM’s Request for Information and Interest (RFI) on potential leasing offshore Virginia for mineral extraction.

Sen. Warner is traveling across the Commonwealth this weekend and will appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday morning. Next week, he plans to introduce some exciting new artificial intelligence legislation… stay tuned!

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