virginia

February 16, 2017 - ICE picked up almost 700 immigrants in operations across Southern states and the country last week, spreading fear in communities but also mobilizing resistance.

February 9, 2017 - This week a U.S. House committee voted to scrap the Election Assistance Commission — the independent government agency that sets security standards for voting machines. It's not the first time the agency created in response to the chaotic 2000 presidential election has been targeted for elimination by Republicans.

January 27, 2017 - On transgender rights, immigrant protections, minimum wage increases and more, Southern cities are facing escalating efforts by state and federal officials to block local progress.

January 10, 2017 - Last week the Obama administration denied all pending permits to conduct seismic testing for oil and gas reserves in the Atlantic Ocean, but pro-drilling politicians who don't represent directly affected coastal communities say they'll work to reverse the decision under Trump.

January 4, 2017 - Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte led an unsuccessful effort this week to roll back the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics. The move came as the nation is about to have a GOP president with numerous potential conflicts of interest, but Goodlatte was also recently accused of his own financial conflicts regarding a natural gas pipeline planned for his state.

December 16, 2016 - Opponents of opening the Atlantic coast to oil and gas drilling are pressing President Obama to enact a permanent ban. We look at the legal framework for such an action, and how durable it would be under a Trump administration.

December 9, 2016 - This week the U.S. Supreme Court took up cases involving potentially racially gerrymandered voting districts in North Carolina and Virginia. The rulings are expected to define for the first time what constitutes excessive reliance on race when drawing district lines.