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Global markets, Wall Street continue to slide after China slaps retaliatory tariffs on imports

Global markets slid further and Wall Street was on track for another day of crushing losses Friday after responded to U.S. ‘s latest set of with some of their own.

Futures for the fell 3.6% before the bell, while futures for the shed 3.4%, falling below the 40,000 mark. Nasdaq futures tumbled 4%.

That follows Thursday’s losses for the three major U.S. indices, which ranged between 4% and 6%. Thursday’s wipeout was Wall Street’s worst day in five years.

Markets in Europe were having an even rougher time Friday. By midday, Germany’s DAX had lost 5%, the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 4.2% and Britain’s FTSE 100 gave up 3.8%.

Oil prices fell as much as 8%.

China announced early Friday that it will impose a 34% tariff on of all U.S. products beginning April 10, part of a flurry of retaliatory measures following ‘s “Liberation Day” slate of double-digit tariffs.

The new tariff matches the rate of the U.S. “reciprocal” tariff of 34% on Chinese Trump ordered this week.

The U.S. exports an array of goods to China, including machinery, soy, corn and aerospace products. Shares in companies that stand to suffer from China’s tariffs include Deere & Co., which fell 4.7% in premarket; and Boeing, which slid 6%.

Apple saw its shares decline 4.7%.

The Commerce Ministry in Beijing also said that it will impose more export controls on rare earths, which are materials used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries.

The Chinese government is also subjecting 27 additional U.S. companies to sanctions or export controls and filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization over the tariffs.

Everything from crude oil to Big Tech to the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies has fallen since Trump’s tariff announcement Wednesday afternoon. Even gold, a traditional safe haven that recently hit record highs, pulled lower.

Trump announced a minimum tariff of 10% on global imports, with the tax rate running much higher on products from certain countries like China and those from the European Union. Smaller, poorer countries in Asia were slapped with tariffs as high as 49%.

Economists say the tariffs increases the risk of a potentially toxic mix of weakening economic growth and higher inflation.

It’s “plausible” the tariffs altogether, which would rival levels unseen in more than a century, could knock down U.S. economic growth by 2 percentage points this year and raise inflation close to 5%, according to UBS.

Later Friday the U.S. government offers up its March jobs report.

Yields on Treasurys tumbled in part on rising expectations for coming cuts to rates, along with general fear about the health of the U.S. economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.89% from 4.01% late Thursday and from roughly 4.80% in January. The last time it had fallen below 4% was in October.

U.S. benchmark crude oil shed $5.32 to $61.63 a barrel, its lowest level since mid-2021. Brent crude, the international standard, was down $5.26 at $64.88 a barrel.

Shares of Exxon Mobil slid 4.2% and Chevron fell an even 4%.

Markets in Shanghai, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia were closed for holidays, limiting the scope of Friday’s sell-offs in Asia.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.8% to 33,780.58, while South Korea’s Kospi sank 0.9% to 2,465.42.

The two U.S. allies said they were focused on negotiating lower tariffs with Trump’s administration.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.4%, closing at 7,667.80.

In other trading early Friday, the U.S. dollar fell to 144.89 Japanese yen from 146.06. The yen is often used as a refuge in uncertain times, while Trump’s policies are meant in part to weaken the dollar to make goods made in the U.S. more price competitive overseas. The euro rose to $1.1074 from $1.1055.

Dow drops 1,600 as US stocks lead worldwide sell-off after Trump’s tariffs cause a COVID-like shock

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street shuddered, and a level of shock unseen since COVID’s outbreak tore through Thursday on worries about the damage President Donald Trump’s newest set of  could do to economies across continents, including his own.

The sank 4.8%, more than in major markets across Asia and Europe, for its worst day since the pandemic crashed the economy in 2020. The dropped 1,679 points, or 4%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 6%.

Little was spared in markets as fear flared about the potentially toxic mix of weakening economic growth and higher inflation that tariffs can create.

Everything from crude oil to Big Tech to the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies fell. Even gold, which hit records recently as investors sought something safer to own, pulled lower. Some of the worst hits walloped smaller U.S. companies, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks dropped 6.6% to pull more than 20% below its record.

Investors worldwide knew Trump was going to announce a sweeping set of tariffs late Wednesday, and fears surrounding it had already pulled Wall Street’s main measure of health, the S&P 500 index, 10% below its all-time high. But Trump still managed to surprise them with “the worst case scenario for tariffs,” according to Mary Ann Bartels, chief investment officer at Sanctuary Wealth.

Trump announced a minimum tariff of 10% on , with the tax rate running much higher on products from certain countries like and those from the European Union. It’s “plausible” the tariffs altogether, which would rival levels unseen in roughly a century, could knock down U.S. economic growth by 2 percentage points this year and raise inflation close to 5%, according to UBS.

Such a hit would be so big that it “makes one’s rational mind regard the possibility of them sticking as low,” according to Bhanu Baweja and other strategists at UBS.

Wall Street had long assumed Trump would use tariffs merely as a tool for negotiations with other countries, rather than as a long-term policy. But Wednesday’s announcement may suggest Trump sees tariffs more as helping to solve an ideological goal than as an opening bet in a poker game. Trump on Wednesday talked about wresting manufacturing jobs back to the United States, a process that could take years.

If Trump follows through on his tariffs, stock prices may need to fall much more than 10% from their all-time high in order to reflect the recession that could follow, along with the hit to profits that U.S. companies could take. The S&P 500 is now down 11.8% from its record set in February.

“Markets may actually be underreacting, especially if these rates turn out to be final, given the potential knock-on effects to global consumption and trade,” said Sean Sun, portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management, though he sees Trump’s announcement on Wednesday as more of an opening move than an endpoint for policy.

Trump offered an upbeat reaction after he was asked about the market’s drop as he left the White House to fly to his Florida golf club on Thursday.

“I think it’s going very well,” he said. “We have an operation, like when a patient gets operated on and it’s a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is.”

One wild card is that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in order to support the economy. That’s what it had been doing late last year before pausing in 2025. Lower interest rates help by making it easier for U.S. companies and households to borrow and spend.

Yields on Treasurys tumbled in part on rising expectations for coming cuts to rates, along with general fear about the health of the U.S. economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.04% from 4.20% late Wednesday and from roughly 4.80% in January. That’s a huge move for the bond market.

The Fed may have less freedom to move than it would like, though. While lower rates can goose the economy, they can also push upward on inflation. And worries are already worsening about that because of tariffs, with U.S. households in particular bracing for sharp increases to their bills.

The U.S. economy at the moment is still growing, of course. A report on Thursday said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. Economist had been expecting to see an uptick in joblessness, and a relatively solid job market has been the linchpin keeping the economy out of recession.

A separate report said activity for U.S. transportation, finance and other businesses in the services industry grew last month. But the growth was weaker than expected, and businesses gave a mixed picture of how they see conditions.

Worries about a potentially stagnating economy and high inflation knocked down all kinds of stocks, leading to drops for four out of every five that make up the S&P 500.

Best Buy fell 17.8% because the electronics that it sells are made all over the world. United Airlines lost 15.6% because customers worried about the global economy may not fly as much for business or feel comfortable enough to take vacations. Target tumbled 10.9% amid worries that its customers, already squeezed by still-high inflation, may be under even more stress.

All told, the S&P 500 fell. 274.45 points to 5,396.52 The Jones Industrial Average sank 1,679.39 to 40,545.93, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 1,050.44 to 16,550.61.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell sharply worldwide. France’s CAC 40 dropped 3.3%, and Germany’s DAX lost 3% in Europe.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 2.8%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.5% and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.8%.

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AP Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Darlene Superville contributed.

UPDATED: with close of US trading

Wawa plans massive expansion in western Virginia

Pennsylvania-based chain plans to massively expand in the western side of Virginia, potentially investing $450 million and opening 60 stores along Interstate 81 within the next decade.

This week, Wawa held groundbreaking events to celebrate the official start of construction on a store in at 14039 Wards Road and a store located at 1135 Richmond Ave. in . Both stores are projected to open this fall.

Also this week, the company held a community event at the Civic Center in Salem to share background on history and growth projections for the market. Salem Director Tommy Miller said that Wawa plans to open a location in Salem and a location in Roanoke sometime in 2026.

“We’re proud to have a brand and a company with a great history and service and reputation, so we’re [with] open arms welcoming them here to Salem,” Miller said.

According to Wawa, this week’s events introduced the chain to the community and were attended by VIP customers, local officials and charity partners. Wawa served fresh food and beverage favorites including freshly brewed coffee, pretzels, teas and lemonades.

“Wawa has been part of the Virginia community for more than 25 years and is proud to be expanding further west to the region,” Kim Dowgielewicz, Wawa’s director for store operations, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to continue growing in new markets to provide the community with our one-of-a-kind offer and commitment to supporting the community.”

Wawa plans to open six to eight new Wawa stores in 2025 and up to 60 over the next 10 years. The company says it’s working to find and finalize details for sites under contract and that once sites are fully permitted and ready to go under construction, it will share details and timelines for construction and openings.

Wawa plans to invest approximately $7.5 million to build each store and employ, on average, 140 contractors and local partners. Each store will employ an average of 35 people — which means that thousands of jobs will be created statewide.

The company may also expand in Northern Virginia. According to the website for -based commercial real estate firm Rappaport, Wawa is eyeing 1.5- to 3-acre pad sites and is wanting either purchases or ground leases and prefers lighted intersections. Desired locations include Arlington, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Madison and Rappahannock counties as well as the cities of Alexandria and Fairfax.

A Rappaport director of brokerage declined to comment, and a Wawa spokesperson said she didn’t have any details to provide regarding a potential Northern Virginia .

Headquartered in Wawa, Pennsylvania, Wawa has more than 1,100 convenience stores currently operating in nine states and Washington, D.C. It carries more than 6,000 items, including groceries, tobacco and candy, and employs 47,000 people, according to the company’s website. According to a news release, Wawa has been in Virginia since 1998, with more than 100 locations.

Supply chain co. plans $10M expansion in Pulaski

The Patton Group, a U.S. supply chain company, plans to expand with a $10 million, 100,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility in , Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday.

This is the company’s second in four years in Pulaski County and will allow Patton Logistics Group to expand its customer base across the Southeast, according to a news release. The project is expected to create 25 jobs.

In 2020, Patton Logistics Group built a 250,000-square-foot logistics center in the New River Valley Park. The next year, the company expanded the warehouse by an additional 100,000 square feet and built a new trucking operations and maintenance center.

“2025 marks the fifth anniversary of our expansion into Pulaski County, Virginia,” Steve Patton, the company’s president, said in a statement.  “What started out in 2020 as a speculative real estate investment and a potential expansion of our logistics company into Southwest Virginia has turned into a significant supply chain solution for many of our clients.”

A family-owned company with headquarters in Pennsylvania, is made up of three affiliate companies that employ 1,000 people. It has operations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and North Carolina.

Watsontown Trucking, the original of the three businesses, operates a fleet of 525 trucks and 1,500 trailers, with a workforce of over 600. Patton Logistics was founded in 2013 to provide transportation brokerage and third-party logistics services for Watsontown Trucking’s expanding customer base. In 2015, Patton Warehousing was formed. It manages 5.2 million square feet of warehouse space.

The new facility will be located on approximately 20 additional acres within the New River Valley Commerce Park, owned by Virginia’s First Regional Industrial Facility Authority.

Youngkin approved a $100,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Pulaski County with the project. Patton Logistics Group will also receive services through VEDP’s Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides services and funding for employee recruitment and training to companies creating jobs.

The Virginia Partnership worked with Pulaski County, Virginia’s First Regional Industrial Facility Authority and Onward New River Valley to secure the expansion. Maryland, North Carolina and Pennsylvania also competed for the project.

“This $10 million investment not only reinforces the company’s confidence in the commonwealth’s strategic location and world-class logistics infrastructure, but it also creates new jobs and economic opportunity for hardworking Virginians in the New River Valley,” Youngkin said in a statement.

US energy department invites AI data center development at Los Alamos and other federal lands

The U.S. Department of Energy said it has identified 16 federal sites, including storied nuclear research laboratories such as Los Alamos, where tech companies could build data centers in a push to accelerate commercial development of artificial intelligence technology.

The sites are “uniquely positioned for rapid data center construction, including in-place energy infrastructure with the ability to fast-track permitting for new energy generation such as nuclear,” the agency said in a statement Thursday.

The move follows an executive order signed in January by outgoing President Joe Biden that sought to remove hurdles for AI data center in the U.S. while also encouraging those data centers, which require large amounts of electricity, to be powered with renewable energy.

While President Donald has since sought to erase most of Biden’s signature AI policies, he made clear after returning to the White House that he had no interest in rescinding Biden’s data center order.

“I’d like to see federal lands opened up for data centers,” Trump said in January. “I think they’re going to be very important.”

The lands identified as potential sites include a number of national laboratories, such as the New Mexico-centered Los Alamos and Sandia laboratories and Oak Ridge in Tennessee.

While the tech industry has long relied on data centers to run online services, from email and social media to transactions, new AI technology behind popular chatbots and generative AI tools requires even more powerful computation to build and operate.

A report released by the Department of Energy late last year estimated that the electricity needed for data centers in the U.S. tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple again by 2028 when it could consume up to 12% of the nation’s electricity.

The United States, under both presidents, has been speeding up efforts to license and build a new generation of nuclear reactors to supply carbon-free electricity.

While Biden’s executive order focused on powering AI infrastructure with clean energy sources such as “geothermal, solar, wind, and nuclear,” Thursday’s statement from Trump’s energy department focused only on nuclear. But in a lengthy request for information posted on data center and energy developers, it outlines a variety of electricity sources available at each site, from solar arrays to gas turbines.

Fear that Trump tariffs will spark recession slashes billions of dollars from US stock values

U.S. companies had billions of dollars in value wiped out after President Donald slapped sweeping on foreign .

Virtually every sector suffered big losses Thursday as U.S. careened toward their biggest one-day drop since COVID-19 flattened the global economy five years ago.

, retailers, clothing, airlines and technology companies were among the hardest hit, with consumers expected to cut spending if tariffs lead to higher prices for goods and services.

Many economists called the tariffs much worse than expected, and investors dumped shares in companies they predict will suffer most from what is effectively a business tax.

In many cases that tax will be passed on to consumers. If consumers pull back their spending because of higher prices, businesses will produce fewer goods and economic growth could stall or . Consumer spending makes up about 70% of economic activity in the U.S.

“This is a game changer, not only for the U.S. economy but for the global economy,” Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings’ head of U.S. Economic Research, said in a report. “Many countries will likely end up in a recession.”

Here’s a breakdown of some of the market’s worst performing sectors and companies on Thursday.

Airlines

Airlines had been projecting a strong year for profits. However, if Americans are faced with higher prices for essentials, economists say that could put a crimp in their travel budgets.

United Airlines, down 11.6%

American Airlines, down 8.5%

Delta Air Lines, down 8.6%

Clothing and shoes

Most major shoe and clothing makers have their products made outside of the U.S., meaning they will have to pay a tariff, or import tax, on all the goods that are shipped back into the country for sale here.

Nike, down 10.4%

Under Armour, down 17.4%

Lululemon, down 11.1%

Ralph Lauren, down 15.6%

Levi Strauss, down 11.5%

Retailers

Big box and online retailers also import a massive amount of their inventory from outside the U.S.

Amazon, down 7%

Target, down 9.5%

Best Buy, down 14.8%

Dollar Tree, down 8.4%

Kohl’s, down 24.4%

Technology

Companies that make and sell computers, smartphones and other technology source many of their parts from abroad. Some manufacture their entire products overseas, meaning they will have to pay a tariff when those products are shipped back for sale to consumers.

Apple, down 8%

HP, down 13.1%

Dell, down 15.4%

Nvidia, down 6.3%

Banks

If the economy slips into a recession, households and businesses will be less likely to borrow money as demand for products and services decline.

Wells Fargo, down 7.5%

Bank of America, down 8.9%

JPMorgan Chase, down 5.7%

Restaurants

American consumers, feeling less confident about their futures this year, have already been pulling back on spending at restaurants as they tighten their budgets and prioritize only essential goods and services.

Starbucks, down 10.8%

Cracker Barrel, down 11.1%

Cheesecake Factory, down 7.3%

Automakers

Somewhat surprisingly, automakers didn’t get hit as hard most other sectors did on Thursday. That could be because most of Ford, GM and Stellantis’ steel and aluminum — which Trump previously announced tariffs on — already comes from the United States, reducing the direct impact the companies would feel from higher duties.

General Motors, down 3%

Ford, down 4%

Tesla, down 4.4%

Stellantis, down 7.9%

Trump’s tariff push is a race against time, and potential voter backlash

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald ‘s expansive new tariff regime flips on its head a decades-long global trend of lower barriers and is likely, economists say, to raise prices for Americans by thousands of dollars each year while sharply slowing the U.S. economy.

The White House is gambling that other countries will also suffer enough pain that they will open up their economies to more American , leading to negotiations that would reduce the imposed Wednesday. Or, the White House hopes, more companies — both American and foreign — will reverse their moves toward global supply chains and bring more production to the United States to avoid higher import taxes.

But a key question for the Trump administration will be how Americans react to the tariffs. If prices rise noticeably and jobs are lost, voters could turn against the duties and make it harder to keep them in place for the length of time needed to encourage companies to return to the U.S.

The Yale Budget Lab estimates that all the Trump administration’s tariffs would cost the average household $3,800 in higher prices this year. The figure includes the impact of the 10% universal tariff announced Wednesday, plus much higher tariffs on about 60 countries, as well as previous import taxes on steel, aluminum, and cars. Inflation could top 4% this year, from 2.8% currently, while the economy may barely grow, according to estimates by Nationwide .

The average U.S. tariff could rise to nearly 25% when the tariffs are fully implemented April 9, economists estimate, higher than it has been in more than a century and higher than the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs that are widely blamed for worsening the Great Recession.

“The president just announced the de facto separation of the U.S. economy from the global economy,” Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Relations, said. “The stage is set for higher prices and slower growth over the long term.”

Secretary Howard Lutnick, in an interview on CNBC Thursday, said the policies will help open markets overseas for U.S. exports.

“I expect most countries to start to really examine their trade policy towards the United States of America, and stop picking on us,” he said. ”This is the reordering of fair trade.”

Americans, a day after the announcement, have mixed feelings.

Bob Lehmann, 73, stopped by a Best Buy in Portland, Oregon to buy a keyboard Wednesday. He opposed the tariffs. “They’re going to raise prices and cause people to pay more for daily living,” he said.

Mathew Hall, a 64-year-old paint contractor, said he thought the tariffs were a “great idea” and that potential price increases in the short term were worth it.

“I believe in the long term, it’s going to be good,” he said, adding that he felt the U.S. had been taken advantage of.

Outside a Tractor Supply store in Castle Rock, a town south of Denver, two family members on opposite sides of the political spectrum debated the tariffs. Chris Theisen, 62 and a Republican, was enthused about the tariffs, arguing the measures could bring jobs to America. “I feel a good change coming on, I feel it’s going to be hard, but you don’t go to the gym and walk away and say, ‘God, I feel great,” he said.

Nayen Shakya, a Democrat and Theisen’s great nephew, said higher prices are already a hardship. At the restaurant where he works, menu prices have been raised to account for higher cost of ingredients, specifically rice, in recent weeks.

“It’s really easy sometimes to say some things in a vague way that everyone can agree with that is definitely more complex under the surface,” said Shakya. “The burden of the increased prices is already going to the consumer.”

Listening to his nephew, Theisen added, “I understand this side of it, too,” he said, motioning to Shakya. “I ain’t got no crystal ball. I hope it works out good.”

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AP Writers Paul Wiseman, Jesse Bedayn, and Claire Rush contributed to this report. Rush reported from Portland and Bedayn from Colorado.

HII division awarded $133M Air National Guard contract

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ -based division won a $133 million by the U.S. Air National Guard to support and provide training for flying units.

, which made the announcement Wednesday, said this will be accomplished through live, virtual and constructive training in a 10-year task order. Mission Technologies will provide expertise and staffing for distributed mission operations events in the U.S. Air National Guard’s Distributed Training Operations Center, which is located on the Des Moines Air National Guard base. The center is housed in the 132d Combat Training Squadron and connects more than 90 simulation sites nationwide.

The company will also provide Air National Guard pilot training and training opportunities for the joint forces.

“Incorporating live, virtual, constructive elements into training dramatically increases the level of realism for air units and enables them to enhance the critical skills needed to succeed in the face of global threats,” Michael Lempke, president of Mission Technologies’ global security group, said in a statement. “Our team is focused on the warfighter mission and is pleased to provide customized training solutions for our nation’s citizen airmen and U.S. Marine Corps command and control units.”

HII will implement a software interface used by the U.S. Department of Defense called the Joint Simulation Bus to modernize the DTOC’s gateway connection. It will also use HII’s distributed mission operations test tools recently made available to Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Advanced Training Capabilities Program Office.

Work will primarily be performed in Des Moines, Iowa.

“We are pleased to expand our services for the DTOC as part of HII’s ever-growing portfolio of U.S. Air Force aviation training programs,” John Scorsone, director for modeling, training and simulation in the global security group, said in a statement.

Newport News-based HII is the nation’s largest military shipbuilder and the largest industrial employer in Virginia. The Fortune 500 company employs about 44,000 workers. The Mission Technologies division has more than 7,000 employees and more than 100 facilities globally.

Virginia lawmakers buck Youngkin budget amendments in one-day session

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers addressed scores of legislative vetoes and amendments from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday, including the governor’s 205 revisions to the state’s budget bill that were decisively nixed by the Democratic-led General Assembly.

The one-day session in Richmond comes after Youngkin vetoed 158 bills that blocked Democrats’ attempts to reintroduce legislation nearly identical to what they proposed unsuccessfully last year. He also amended about 160 others.

Many of the governor’s 205 amendments to the Virginia House budget bill would have trimmed the proposed state spending provisions approved in February in favor of adding $300 million in additional funds to Virginia’s coffers on top of nearly $295 million already slated to be set aside over the biennium.

Youngkin’s edits, however, were largely rejected by Democrats wielding power in both chambers, who accepted just 33 of Youngkin’s proposed budget revisions and scrapped the remaining amendments.

Youngkin also submitted eight line-item budget vetoes, six of which were sustained by lawmakers. Democratic House Speaker Don Scott ruled out of order Youngkin’s other two vetos, which would have upended funding for a manufactured home acquisition program and a mortgage assistance program.

In ignoring most of Youngkin’s budget amendments, Democrats cemented their budget plans to lift a spending cap for public schools’ support services. They also staved off Youngkin’s attempts to eliminate a $15 million amendment establishing a first-time homebuyer program.

Youngkin added a budget amendment authorizing the consideration of establishing Oak Hill, the home of former President James Monroe, as a state park. A House bill to that effect failed in the Senate during the session. But the House of Delegates nixed the governor’s revision, effectively killing the project this budget cycle.

“We’re not going to allow the governor to basically shift money away from the priorities that Democrats had demonstrated when we passed the budget back in February,” Democratic Sen. Mamie Locke said late Wednesday to a group of reporters about the bill at large.

Senate Democrat Adam Ebbin added: “He may say it with a smile, but he’s got the same spirit as President . Those were needless amendments.”

Lawmakers also addressed the governor’s other legislative actions, though they did not override any of Youngkin’s vetoes. Democrats, who have a thin majority in both chambers, needed a two-thirds supermajority to override Youngkin’s vetoes.

Lawmakers instead mainly spent Wednesday addressing the budget bill and amendments to other legislation, which they only needed a simple majority to act on. Now, Youngkin has about a month to review all remaining bills.

“Over the next 30 days I will review and take final action on the bills and budget amendments that have been sent back to my desk,” Youngkin said in a statement Wednesday. “Thank you again to the General Assembly members for their work throughout this legislative session.”

Lawmakers rejected Youngkin’s amendment to a bill requiring the state to increase oversight on pharmacy benefits managers, which set the costs for prescription drugs. Youngkin proposed the issue be studied.

They also rejected his suggestion that a bill banning personal property taxes for the United Daughters of the Confederacy be taken up next year following a tax review.

Still, the governor gets the final say on any legislation that arrives at his desk for a signature after Wednesday.

Except in one instance: lawmakers can preemptively block Youngkin’s say if they pass the bill in its original form with two-thirds support after rejecting the governor’s amendments.

After rejecting Youngkin’s amendments, House lawmakers took up this rare move for bills creating a women’s menstrual health program, implementing a study on whether infertility treatments should be supported by health insurance and seeking equal pay for midwives’ services. But the Senate did not seek such action, making the House’s passage moot.

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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

NoVa govcon firm Mitre to lay off 442 employees after DOGE cuts contracts

Federal contracting firm , which has dual headquarters in and Massachusetts, expects to lay off 442 people in Virginia in two months. The cuts come after the administration has announced more than $28 million in canceled contracts for the company.

Mitre notified the state Wednesday of 442 job cuts in McLean, in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. According to the notice, the will take place by June 3.

Founded in 1958, the company manages federally funded research and development centers, including the National Security Engineering Center, which delivers research, engineering and analytical solutions to the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.

“Mitre has made the difficult decision to undertake a reduction in force for a small percentage of our workforce,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “We continuously assess our costs, value and technical capabilities to ensure we are best positioned to deliver exceptional mission impact to the U.S. government.  These actions will ensure Mitre is effectively aligned with present and future challenges related to the health, safety, and security of the nation. Our greatest asset is our remarkable people, and any decision that impacts them is taken with great care and consideration.”

Launched by , the Department of Government Efficiency () claimed to have cut $28.5 million in federal contracts awarded to Mitre as cost-cutting measures, according to G2Xchange, a company that tracks federal contracts.

The 11 terminated contracts are from the National Institutes of Health, the IRS, the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the Social Security Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security’s procurement operations office, according to G2X. All of the contracts were canceled in late January through March 24.

Multiple news reports in recent weeks have pointed out numerous mistakes in data released by the DOGE team, however. A New York Times analysis found the information is filled with accounting errors, outdated data and other miscalculations.

Mitre has more than 60 sites , employing 10,000 workers. Mitre’s 200-plus labs develop innovations in applied science and technologies in sectors ranging from artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum computing to maritime and aviation safety.