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FAA keeps flight cuts at 6% as shutdown ends

Summary

  • keeps at 6% instead of 10%
  • More air traffic controllers returning to work
  • Trump signs bill ending record 43-day shutdown
  • Airlines expect full operations to resume soon

Flight reductions at 40 major will remain at 6% instead of rising to 10% by the end of the week because more air traffic controllers are coming to work, officials said Wednesday.

The announcement was made as took steps to end the longest  in history. Not long after, President  signed a government funding bill to end the closure.

The flight cuts were implemented last week as more air traffic controllers were calling out of work, citing stress and the need to take on second jobs — leaving more control towers and facilities short-staffed. Air traffic controllers missed two paychecks during the impasse.

The said the flight reduction decision was made on recommendations from the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety team, after a “rapid decline” in controller callouts.

The 6% limit will stay in place while officials assess whether the air traffic system can safely return to normal operations, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, although he did not provide a timeline Wednesday.

“If the FAA safety team determines the trend lines are moving in the right direction, we’ll put forward a path to resume normal operations,” Duffy said in a statement.

Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Wednesday that safety remains their top priority and that all decisions will be guided by data.

Delta struck an optimistic note about how much longer flight reductions would continue, saying in a statement the airline looked forward to bringing its “operation back to full capacity over the next few days.”

Since the restrictions took effect last Friday, more than 10,100 flights have been canceled, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. The FAA originally planned to ramp up flight cuts from 4% to 10% at the 40 airports.

The FAA said that worrisome safety data showed flight reductions were needed to ease pressure on the aviation system and help manage worsening staffing shortages at its air traffic control facilities as flight disruptions began to pile up.

Duffy has declined to share the specific safety data that prompted the flight cuts. But at a news conference Tuesday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, he cited reports of planes getting too close in the air, more runway incursions and pilot concerns about controllers’ responses.

The FAA’s list of 40 airports spans more than two dozen states and includes large hubs such as New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago. The order requires all commercial airlines to make cuts at those airports.

Airlines for America, the trade group of U.S. airlines, posted on social media that it was grateful for the funding bill. It said reopening the government would allow U.S. airlines to restore operations ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday which is in about two weeks.

How long it will take for the aviation system to stabilize is unclear. The flight restrictions upended airline operations in just a matter of days. Many planes were rerouted and aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Airlines for America said earlier Wednesday that there would be residual effects for days.

Eric Chaffee, a Case Western Reserve professor who studies , says airlines face complex hurdles, including rebuilding flight schedules that were planned months in advance.

Airline and hotel trade groups had earlier Wednesday urged the House to act quickly to end the shutdown, warning of potential holiday travel chaos.

Flight cuts disrupted other flights and crews, leading to more cancelations than the FAA required at first. The impact was worsened by unexpected controller shortages over the weekend and severe weather.

The CEO of the U.S. Travel Association said essential like air traffic controllers and Transportation Administration workers must be paid if “Congress ever goes down this foolish path again” and there is a shutdown.

“America cannot afford another self-inflicted crisis that threatens the systems millions rely on every day,” Geoff Freeman said in a statement.

Shenandoah Valley medical marijuana permit likely stalled

SUMMARY:

  • A foreclosure sale of assets of , a Miami-based company, was held Monday
  • Winning bid was made by an entity made up of AYR Wellness’ senior noteholders
  • Virginia Control Authority declined to comment on how that will impact the sale of in region

UPDATED: Thursday, Nov. 13,  10:30 a.m.

Patients in a region of the state that includes the , and may have to wait longer to purchase medical marijuana locally.

That’s because the parent company of AYR Virginia, the entity that the selected last year to cultivate, manufacture and sell medical marijuana in the northwest part of the state, entered a restructuring agreement over the summer due to overwhelming debt. (Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, companies in the industry generally cannot file for bankruptcy.)

As part of the agreement, AYR Wellness, the Miami-based parent company of AYR Virginia and another multistate marijuana company, agreed to sell its assets in several states including Virginia. That sale was held Monday, and a group of AYR Wellness’ senior noteholders made the successful bid.

“While AYR is now under new ownership, its core business, footprint and team are all remaining intact,” Robert Vanisko, senior vice president of public affairs for AYR Wellness, wrote in an email Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the CCA declined to comment Tuesday on how the sale will affect medical marijuana sales in Virginia’s Health Service Area 1, which is made up of 32 counties and cities located around the Shenandoah region, or what the process will be for the new owners of AYR Virginia to take over the CCA’s conditional permit to grow and sell medical marijuana in that region.

In a September 2024 press release, the state authority explained that “AYR Virginia will have one year to meet all requirements necessary to obtain a full pharmaceutical processor permit. ”

Gregory D. Habeeb, chair of the regulatory affairs practice group and the president of consulting for Gentry Locke, a Roanoke-headquartered law firm, said the CCA can transfer a permit to another entity, but that process will take time.

“It won’t make it quicker,” Habeeb said.

Vanisko on Thursday maintained that the operation being built to serve HSA 1 won’t necessarily be delayed.

“So essentially, now that the public auction process is complete, we are initiating the process of transferring the licenses and subsidiaries of AYR Wellness to the New AYR,” Vanisko said, referring to the company that will be created by the senior noteholders of AYR Wellness. “That process varies in timeline, state by state, but does not prevent us from operating our businesses in the meantime. … It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s gonna slow down the build-out. We’re still building it.”

Vanisko declined to provide a timeline for those efforts.

Why has Shenandoah lagged?  

In other parts of the state, medicinal marijuana is a thriving industry, but the Shenandoah region’s medical marijuana program has long been delayed.

The first company awarded the permit lost it in 2020 after failing to meet construction deadlines.

After the matter was resolved in court, the CCA announced in February 2024 that it would accept applications from entities who wanted to be considered for the CCA’s approval to grow and sell medical marijuana in HSA 1. Forty applicants, who each paid $18,000 in fees, threw their hats in the ring.

A CCA review committee scored the applicants and had a 33-way tie for the highest score. The CCA held a lottery to determine the winning entity in September 2024, using a number randomization website. The authority then awarded its conditional approval to AYR Virginia.

Dozens of unsuccessful applicants sued the CCA over its selection process, but a Richmond judge dismissed the case in August. Some have appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court.

Tanner Johnson, CEO of Pure Virginia, a Harrisonburg company that applied to win the permit to grow, manufacture and sell medical marijuana in HSA 1, said he and the other leaders of the company wish CCA had done a better job with the selection.

“The worst part of all this is that our community in HSA 1 continues to suffer without access to medical cannabis,” Johnson said in a statement.

AYR Wellness restructuring

AYR Wellness reported having more than $385 million in long-term debt at the end of January. “We started with an overburdened balance sheet. Too much debt,” Scott Davido, interim CEO of AYR Wellness, said during an August livestream with Cultivated Media, which caters to cannabis professionals.

Winning the assets of AYR Wellness allows the group of senior noteholders to move forward. “This restructuring will wipe out a significant portion, hundreds of millions of dollars, of that debt,” Davido said on the livestream. “It will be converted to equity that will be owned by our prior creditors.”

In recent months, AYR Wellness has closed several cultivation sites and cut hundreds of jobs as part of the restructuring, according to news reports.

The company’s leaders remain bullish on the commonwealth, however. “We’re going to open up Virginia and completely roll out our footprint there,” Davido said on the August livestream.

Habeeb believes it’s likely the new company created by AYR Wellness’ senior noteholders will become the entity that ends up serving the HSA 1 medical marijuana market.

“Unless the commission is going to suspend the award of the license because of their financial conditions or background checks or something else,” Habeeb said. “These licenses have always been deemed to be transferable.”

To be clear, that’s not necessarily what Habeeb thinks should happen. Gentry Locke represented two entities, Blue Ridge Medical and Pure Virginia, in the case against the CCA and AYR in Richmond Circuit Court this summer.

“We never thought that was a properly run process,” Habeeb said of the method the state cannabis authority used in choosing the company to serve the medical marijuana market in HSA 1. “Using Random.org for a random number generator to draw out of a hat a company to award a license worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, … the fact that they awarded it to a licensee who apparently didn’t have the financial capacity to go through with the deal, … is just another example of where they dropped the ball in this procurement.”

As for Johnson, he’s not giving up on his cannabis dreams. After Gov.-elect is sworn in in January, many expect Virginia to quickly launch a retail marijuana market, long delayed under the administration of her Republican predecessor, .

“Our sights are now set on the opening of the adult-use market in Virginia, which seems to be the best and fastest pathway to ensuring all Virginians have access to safe and regulated cannabis products,” Tanner said in a statement.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated

President Trump signs government funding bill, ending shutdown after a record 43-day disruption

Summary

  • Trump signs funding bill, ending record 43-day shutdown
  • guaranteed back pay and job protection
  • Dispute centered on ACA tax credit extension
  • Shutdown exposed deep partisan divisions in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — President signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks.

The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions — including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers — to pressure into relenting on their demands.

The Republican president blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.

“So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.”

The signing ceremony came just hours after the House passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 222-209. The Senate had already passed the measure Monday.

Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through marketplaces. They refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time.

“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. , the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.”

A bitter end after a long stalemate

The frustration and pressures generated by the shutdown was reflected when lawmakers debated the spending measure on the House floor.

Republicans said Democrats sought to use the pain generated by the shutdown to prevail in a policy dispute.

“They knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway,” House Speaker said.

Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy. But the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

Democratic leader said Democrats would not give up on the subsidy extension even if the vote did not go their way.

“This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started.”

The House had not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans had done their job.

What’s in the bill to end the shutdown

The legislation is the result of a deal reached by eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a government funding to bill to extend the health care tax credits.

The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the health care subsidies, but there is no guarantee of success.

The bill includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.

The package includes $203.5 million to boost security for lawmakers and an additional $28 million for the security of Supreme Court justices.

Democrats also decried language in the bill that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them, allowing for up to $500,000 in potential damages for each violation.

The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The provisions drew criticism from Republicans as well. Johnson said he was “very angry about it.”

“That was dropped in at the last minute, and I did not appreciate that, nor did most of the House members,” Johnson said, promising a vote on the matter as early as next week.

The biggest point of contention, though, was the fate of the expiring enhanced tax credit that makes health insurance more affordable through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

“It’s a subsidy on top of a subsidy. Our friends added it during COVID,” Cole said. “COVID is over. They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out. They chose the date.”

Rep. , D-Calif., said the enhanced tax credit was designed to give more people access to health care and no Republican voted for it.

“All they have done is try to eliminate access to health care in our country. The country is catching on to them,” Pelosi said.

Without the enhanced tax credit, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans. More than 2 million people would lose health insurance coverage altogether next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected.

Health care debate ahead

It’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.

House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overhaul for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.

House passes bill to end historic government shutdown, sending measure to Trump

Summary

  • House approves bill ending 43-day government shutdown
  • Measure heads to for signature
  • Democrats sought ACA tax credit extension in spending deal
  • insisted on separating health policy from funding

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a bill Wednesday to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, sending the measure to President for his signature after a historic 43-day funding lapse that saw go without multiple paychecks, travelers stranded at airports and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families.

House lawmakers made their long-awaited return to the nation’s capital this week after nearly eight weeks away, with Republicans using their slight majority to get the bill over the finish line by a vote of 222-209. The Senate has already passed the measure. Trump has called the bill a “very big victory.”

Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through marketplaces. They refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time. They eventually prevailed, but only after the shutdown took an increasing toll on the country.

“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. , the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.”

The shutdown magnified the stark partisan divisions within Congress, and that split screen was reflected when lawmakers debated the measure on the House floor.

Republicans said Democrats sought to use the pain generated by the shutdown to prevail in a policy dispute.

“Stop imposing the suffering,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said. “Let’s open the government. Let’s get back to the work of the American people.”

Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy, but the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

Democratic leader said Democrats would not give up even if the vote did not go their way.

“This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started.”

The House had not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. House Speaker sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans had done their job.

Johnson said the Democratic opposition to the spending bill was pointless, adding “it was wrong, it was cruel.”

“They knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway,” Johnson said.

The compromise to end the shut

down

The legislation included buy-in from eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a government funding to bill to extend the health care tax credits. Meanwhile, the shutdown’s toll was growing by the day.

The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the health care subsidies, but there is no guarantee of success.

“We had reached a point where I think a number of us believed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about health care,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. The promise for a future vote “gives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward.”

The legislation includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.

The package includes $203.5 million to boost security for lawmakers and an additional $28 million for the security of Supreme Court justices.

Democrats are also seizing on language that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them, allowing for up to $500,000 in potential damages for each violation. Democrats called for removal of the provision.

The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The provisions drew criticism from Republicans as well. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said he’s already introduced repeal legislation that he hoped would be voted on quickly.

The biggest point of contention, though, was the fate of the expiring enhanced tax credit that makes health insurance more affordable through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

“It’s a subsidy on top of a subsidy. Our friends added it during COVID,” Cole said. “COVID is over. They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out. They chose the date.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the enhanced tax credit was designed to give more people access to health care, but no Republicans voted for it.

“All they have done is try to eliminate access to health care in our country. The country is catching on to them,” Pelosi said.

Most Democrats call the passage of the spending bill this week a mistake. Senate Democratic leader of New York, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said the bill “fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s crisis.”

Without the enhanced tax credit, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans. More than 2 million people would lose health insurance coverage altogether next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week’s elections were urging them to “hold firm.”

Health care debate ahead

It’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.

House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overall for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.

Unanet Introduces Champ AI™: The Natural‑Language Copilot for GovCon and AEC Firms

Unanet, the leader in AI-first ERP and growth software for project-based businesses, today announced Champ AI™, the natural-language copilot for and AEC firms.

Built as a multi-agent intelligence platform, Champ AI™ helps organizations unify and access data across their systems, automate multi-step tasks, and receive role-aware guidance in the flow of work. A nod to Unanet’s annual Champions conference for customers, Champ AI™ embodies that same spirit of partnership and performance. Acting as an intelligent teammate, it empowers Unanet users across roles and throughout the entire project lifecycle.

Built on a secure, extensible AI architecture, Champ AI™ unifies data, reasoning, and automation across Unanet’s portfolio. Designed for transparency and control, it blends natural-language understanding with governed orchestration to deliver trustworthy, enterprise-ready generative AI for GovCon and AEC firms.

“The industry doesn’t need another chatbot. It needs an intelligent copilot that understands your business and your data,” said Steve Karp, Chief Innovation Officer at Unanet. “Champ AI goes beyond basic Q&A to deliver context, confidence, and action in a single conversation so teams get trustworthy answers and can act on them instantly.”

Key capabilities of Champ AI
Champ AI’s core capabilities are organized around how project‑based teams work every day- connecting data, context and action across the Unanet platform:

Unify. Serves as the connective layer bet

 

Announce your new product launches or updates, company milestones, partnerships & collaborations, industry awards and recognition, events and conferences, corporate social responsibility initiatives, or business updates to our influential audience. Your announcement will be showcased in print and online, as well as in search, so our community stays informed.

Submit your form here

House returns for vote to end the government shutdown after nearly 2 months away

Summary

  • House to vote on Senate-passed bill ending 43-day shutdown.
  • Democrats oppose measure over expiring tax credits.
  • Bill restores pay for and funds food assistance.
  • pledge later vote on extending health care subsidies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House lawmakers made a long-awaited return to the nation’s capital on Wednesday after nearly eight weeks away to potentially put an end to the longest federal  in U.S. history.

The House is scheduled to take up a bill to reopen the government that the Senate passed on Monday night. President called the measure a “very big victory.” The prospect of travel delays due to the shutdown could complicate the vote. Still, Speaker Mike Johnson said the GOP was “very optimistic” about the outcome.

“We think this is going to happen and we’re sorry it took this long,” Johnson, R-La., told reporters.

The House has not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans did their job.

Democrats seized on the opportunity to cast Republicans as going on vacation while the federal workforce went without paychecks, travelers experienced airport delays and food assistance benefits expired. Johnson said members were doing important work in their districts helping constituents navigate the shutdown.

The vast majority of Democratic lawmakers are expected to vote against the bill because it does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of this year and make coverage more affordable. They gathered on the Capitol steps to denounce the measure.

“We cannot support the Republican effort to gut the health care of the American people,” said Democratic leader of New York.

But Johnson said of the pending legislation that “our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that.”

“After 40 days of wandering in the wilderness and making the American people suffer needlessly, some Senate Democrats finally have stepped forward to end the pain,” Johnson said.

The compromise to end the shutdown

The legislation included buy-in from eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a government funding to bill to extend the . Meanwhile, the shutdown’s toll was growing by the day. Wednesday was Day 43.

The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the health care subsidies, but there is no guarantee of success.

“We had reached a point where I think a number of us believed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about health care,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. The promise for a future vote “gives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward.”

The legislation includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.

The package includes $203.5 million to boost security for lawmakers and an additional $28 million for the security of Supreme Court justices.

Democrats are also seizing on language that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them, allowing for up to $500,000 in potential damages for each violation. Democrats called for removal of the provision.

The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Democrats were being hypocritical in blaming the GOP for the expiring health insurance tax credit.

“It’s a subsidy on top of a subsidy. Our friends added it during COVID,” he said of Democrats. “COVID is over. They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out. They chose the date. … By the way, they did it without any Republican votes.”

Most Democrats call the passage of the spending bill a mistake. Senate Democratic leader of New York, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said the bill “fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s crisis.”

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week’s elections were urging them to “hold firm.”

Health care debate ahead

It’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.

“We do need to act by the end of the year, and that is exactly what the majority leader has promised,” Collins said.

House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overall for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.

Global Guardian acquires UK risk management company

McLean-based global firm announced last week it has acquired United Kingdom-based Solace Global Risk, a travel company with a significant European presence.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the company, Solace Global Risk will continue to operate under its current brand and serve its European clients with expanded operational capabilities for the next 12 to 18 months.

It was not made clear what will happen to the Solace branding after the 12-to-18-month integration period, how many Solace employees will join the Global team, or whether there will be any leadership transitions. Global Guardian did not immediately return requests for comment.

“This significantly accelerates Global Guardian’s growth trajectory and strengthens our international presence, representing a pivotal moment in our mission to be the most trusted global security firm,” Global Guardian CEO Dale Buckner said in a statement. “By integrating Solace Global Risk’s industry-leading travel risk management platform with our operational expertise, we are shaping the future of integrated security — where human expertise and technology work seamlessly together to deliver smarter, faster and more effective protection for our clients.”

Global Guardian announced it will transition its clients to Solace’s technology platform and continue developing it to enhance performance and introduce additional features.

“It became clear very early in our conversations with Global Guardian that we are deeply aligned in our commitment to client safety and operational excellence,” Solace Global Risk Managing Director Emily Roberts said in a statement. “This acquisition creates unprecedented opportunities for our clients to access comprehensive risk management solutions backed by both cutting-edge technology and proven field capabilities from a single provider.”

Global Guardian provides risk management services that protect employees and families from political, environmental and bad actor threats worldwide. Its services include 24/7 support from its global security operations center, personnel-based and executive protection, medical support and transport, travel intelligence and emergency response in over 140 countries.

Defense contractor to add 288 workers at Roanoke night-vision goggle factory

Texas-based contractor Elbit Systems of America will invest $30 million to expand its night-vision googles facility, with plans to create 288 jobs, announced Wednesday.

Once the is complete, it will bring the site’s workforce to more than 1,000 employees.

“Elbit America’s continued growth in Roanoke County strengthens America’s defense capabilities and supports our brave service members at home and abroad,” Youngkin said in a statement.

The timeline of the expansion, the square footage of the expansion and more details on whether it would involve a new building or merely renovate an existing building were not provided. Elbit and the governor’s office did not immediately return requests for comment.

A company news release stated that the $30 million investment would fund enhancements, expansion efforts, machinery and tools.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Elbit America provides high-performance products, systems, technology, and support services for the defense, homeland , law enforcement, commercial aviation and medical instrumentation markets. It has 16 locations and more than 70 research labs, and a workforce of over 3,300 employees. It is a subsidiary of the Israeli global military technology company Elbit Systems.

“The need for highly sophisticated night vision systems is growing in the U.S. and abroad, as
militaries modernize their technologies to heighten situational awareness and successfully
operate in all conditions,” said Erik Fox, senior vice president and general manager of the warfighter systems division at Elbit America, in a statement. “As one of the few manufacturers who produce image intensification tubes and these military grade systems, we must grow to keep up with demand.”

The Virginia Partnership worked with the Roanoke Regional Partnership and the county to secure the project for Virginia. In addition, Youngkin approved a $1.2 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist with the project, as well as a performance-based grant of $300,000 from the Virginia Investment Performance Grant.

The Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs, will support the jobs created through the expansion.

Spanberger calls on U.Va. board to wait on hiring next president

Summary:

  • Gov.-elect says U.Va. board should pause hiring next university president until she takes office
  • Board’s presidential search committee has met with multiple candidates this fall
  • Former president Jim Ryan resigned under political pressure from Trump White House

Update: Read Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s response to Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger

Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger sent a letter to the ‘s board leaders Wednesday calling on them to delay hiring a new university president or choosing final candidates until after she takes office in January 2026.

A U.Va. alumna, Democrat Spanberger’s letter to university Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter N. Wilkinson — both appointed by Republican — takes exception with the board’s actions over the past six months, a fraught period that included Jim Ryan’s resignation as president in June under pressure by the and the university’s October agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that some faculty groups have criticized as capitulation to the White House.

“The actions of the have severely undermined the public’s and the university community’s confidence in the board’s ability to govern productively, transparently and in the best interests of the university,” Spanberger wrote. “This loss of confidence is reflected in the numerous votes of no confidence from both the faculty and the student council — constituencies essential to the university’s success and those directly affected by the critical decisions before the board.”

In a statement issued Wednesday, U.Va. said, “University leaders and the Board of Visitors are reviewing the letter and are ready to engage with the governor-elect and to work alongside her and her team to advance the best interests of U.Va. and the commonwealth,” U.Va. said in a statement Wednesday.

Spanberger’s letter notes that five Youngkin U.Va. board appointees have been rejected this year by the Democratic-controlled state Senate Privileges & Elections Committee, a political squabble between the governor and Senate that’s now being considered by the Supreme Court of Virginia following a ruling this summer in the senators’ favor.

The state Senate committee refused along party lines to confirm 22 of Youngkin’s appointees to the boards of U.Va., George Mason University and Virginia Military Institute, as Democratic lawmakers  accused Youngkin of attempting to control state universities through political influence by their boards.

Currently, all of the state’s public universities and colleges’ boards are made up entirely of Youngkin appointees, some of whom have significant ties to the Trump administration. In October, the Supreme Court of Virginia heard the state attorney general’s appeal of a Circuit judge’s decision in July to issue a preliminary injunction that blocked GMU, VMI and U.Va.’s rectors from seating disputed board appointees. George Mason’s board currently does not have enough confirmed members for a quorum, required by law for it to meet.

Spanberger, whose transition team released the letter Wednesday afternoon after The New York Times reported on it earlier in the day, asks the U.Va. board “to refrain from rushing this search process and from selecting the finalists for the presidency or a president until the board is at full complement and in statutory compliance, meaning that I have appointed and the General Assembly has confirmed new board members.” She pledged to make appointments to university boards soon after her Jan. 17, 2026, inauguration.

Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach and chair of the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee, released a statement later Wednesday supporting Spanberger’s letter. “The legitimacy and transparency of the search for the university’s next president are critical not only to U.Va.’s success but also to maintaining public confidence in our commonwealth’s institutions of ,” he said.

U.Va.’s presidential search committee has met twice with job candidates in October and November closed sessions, and according to the public minutes for the Nov. 3 meeting, the committee will meet at an undisclosed location Nov. 17 to interview candidates. A Nov. 3 university news story said that the committee has begun narrowing the field of more than 60 candidates to a “handful” who will be invited for in-person interviews this month. According to Jason Isaacson, the chair of search firm Isaacson Miller, interest in the job has increased after U.Va. entered into the agreement with the Department of Justice.

Meanwhile, Paul G. Mahoney, a former U.Va. Law dean, is serving as U.Va.’s interim president.

The U.Va. chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which has been critical of the university’s board, wrote in July to Sheridan and other board members that it “strongly objects” to the process used to appoint an interim president and the permanent head of the university. The chapter “must object to the absence of formal and significant faculty consultation and role in decision making,” its letter reads. The same organization called this week for the university to rescind its agreement with the federal government.

Anthropic invests $50B in AI data centers, Microsoft expands

Summary

  • announces $50 billion investment in AI in Texas and New York.
  • builds Atlanta data center linked to Wisconsin “supercomputer.”
  • Projects will create thousands of construction and permanent jobs.
  • growth raises concerns over energy use, costs, and investment bubble.

company Anthropic announced a $50 billion investment in computing infrastructure on Wednesday that will include new data centers in Texas and New York.

Microsoft also on Wednesday announced a new data center under construction in Atlanta, Georgia, describing it as connected to another in Wisconsin to form a “massive supercomputer” running on hundreds of thousands of chips to power AI technology.

The latest deals show that the tech industry is moving forward on huge spending to build energy-hungry AI infrastructure, despite lingering financial concerns about a bubble, environmental considerations and the political effects of fast-rising electricity bills in the communities where they’re constructed.

Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude, said it is working with London-based Fluidstack to build the new computing facilities to power its AI systems. It didn’t disclose their exact locations or what source of electricity they will need.

Another company, cryptocurrency mining data center developer TeraWulf, has previously revealed it was working with Fluidstack on Google-backed data center projects in Texas and New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario. TeraWulf declined comment Wednesday.

A report last month from TD Cowen said that the leading cloud computing providers leased a “staggering” amount of U.S. data center capacity in the third fiscal quarter of this year, amounting to more than 7.4 gigawatts of energy, more than all of last year combined.

Oracle was securing the most capacity during that time, much of it supporting AI workloads for Anthropic’s chief rival , maker of ChatGPT. Google was second and Fluidstack came in third, ahead of Meta, Amazon, CoreWeave and Microsoft.

Anthropic said its projects will create about 800 permanent jobs and 2,400 construction jobs. It said in a statement that the “scale of this investment is necessary to meet the growing demand for Claude from hundreds of thousands of businesses while keeping our research at the frontier.”

Microsoft has branded its Atlanta data center as Fairwater 2, after the original Fairwater complex being built near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company said it will help power its own technology, along with OpenAI’s and other AI developers. Microsoft was, until earlier this year, OpenAI’s exclusive cloud computing provider before the two companies amended their partnership. OpenAI has since announced more than $1 trillion in infrastructure obligations, much of it tied to its Stargate project with partners Oracle and SoftBank.

The tech industry’s huge amount of spending on computing infrastructure for AI startups that aren’t yet profitable has fueled concerns about an AI investment bubble.

Investors have closely watched a series of intertwined deals over recent months between top AI developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic and the companies building the costly computer chips and data centers needed to power their AI products. Anthropic said it will continue to “prioritize cost-effective, capital-efficient approaches” to scaling up its business.