Latest news with #JenKiggans
Fox News
6 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Rules keeping drones on leash could loosen with deregulation proposal from Congress
FIRST ON FOX: A new move by Congress would unleash civilian drone use across America's skies by establishing rules to allow them to be flown beyond a user's line of sight and using AI for approval to do so. Under current law, many drones can't fly beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) without a waiver — a massive hindrance to emergency response, agriculture, deliveries and infrastructure inspection, according to Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va. Her LIFT Act, introduced in the House on Thursday, would require Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to establish set performance and safety standards for BVLOS operations and review current aviation standards, which were designed with manned aircraft in mind. It would also require the Transportation secretary to deploy artificial intelligence to assist with processing waiver applications to allow civilian drones to fly BVLOS. Industry operators have long pushed for new BVLOS policy to replace the current system in which individuals must apply for waivers with the Federal Aviation Adminsitration (FAA) through a costly, cumbersome process to fly beyond the line of sight. They say it has delayed large-scale implementation of drones to perform tasks like inspecting powerlines and pipelines or carting medical supplies between facilities. Kiggans told Fox News Digital her reasoning for introducing the legislation was to spur drone development in the U.S.: "China builds five times as many drones as we do here in America." In March, Duffy said that new rules for expanding drone use for deliveries and other services would be coming "in relatively short order." Kiggans said she too has been wondering when the new DOT guidelines will come out. She hopes the LIFT Act will apply pressure to act soon: "Sometimes putting that in writing, something from from Congress, kind of will motivate them to actually get it done." Additionally, the bill establishes a new pilot program to offer grants to state and local governments for drone programs, ensuring they have a stake in future air mobility systems and not just large private companies. The bill is meant to codify transportation portions of President Donald Trump's June 6 executive order, Unleashing American Drone Dominance. With bipartisan momentum building around drone applications, Congress may soon decide if American skies are ready for a higher-tech future. But the public remains spooked by a high-profile commercial plane crash in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. Safety regulations will need to move cautiously to account for the expected increase in air traffic. "There's definitely some concern," said Kiggans. "I worry about that between our military aviation that we have in our district." "It's something that we need to be regulating… but I think there's a way that we can all coexist. There needs to be some clear laws in place, and they need to be educated to drone users and aviators."
Fox News
7 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
House hearing examines millions of dollars' worth of improperly documented VA incentive payments
Jen Kiggans, R-Va., led a hearing on Tuesday to discuss millions of dollars' worth of incentive payments distributed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that were improperly documented. Kiggans, at the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, said incentive payments for recruitment, relocation and retention have lacked oversight for years, according to a news release from the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "They call it the three Rs, which are recruitment, retention, and relocation," Chris Lovell, a retired Marine Corps Major and CEO of veteran-owned Lovell Government Services, described to Fox News Digital. "It gives additional pay to folks… to keep them and retain them, especially if they have specialty vocations that the VA needs." A recent audit found that between 2020 and 2023, VA payments for relocation grew by 85%, retention payments grew by 131%, and recruitment payments increased by 237%. A total of $1.2 billion worth of incentive payments were given to employees during that period, but $341 million of those were not properly documented, according to the committee. The audit discovered that in one instance, the Veterans Health Administration awarded $30,000 in relocation payments to an employee who never moved, the release noted. Lovell, whose Florida-based business provides resources to the VA, said that this has been an ongoing problem. A 2017 report found improper payments from the VA totaled over $158 million in unsupported spending, according to the release. These documentation issues could be mitigated if the agency improved its management and upgraded its outdated system, Lovell said. The Defense Civilian Pay System, used by both the Department of Defense and the VA, was created more than 30 years ago. "It's a two-pronged approach to cleaning up what's perceived as fraud and waste," he said. "If [management says] they want to clean up erroneous payments or payments without documentation, then they need to supervise that. … And the second piece of that improvement process… is the system." However, Lovell said that the VA is doing "great things" for veterans on a daily basis. "We're happy to be a part of that," he said. In an email, a spokesperson for the VA referred Fox News Digital to the agency's testimony at the hearing. The VA currently has around 482,000 employees, the majority of whom work in the Veterans Health Administration, according to its website. Earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency found the VA had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a month for website changes before canceling the contract and having an internal staffer take over. While combing through loads and loads of data, DOGE discovered a previous contract by the VA for its website maintenance. "Good work by @DeptVetAffairs," DOGE said in a post on X. "VA was previously paying ~$380,000/month for minor website modifications. That contract has not been renewed, and the same work is now being executed by 1 internal VA software engineer spending ~10 hours/week."
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Navy reservist announces campaign to unseat Rep. Jen Kiggans
With congressional midterms still more than a year away, Democrat James Osyf is the latest candidate to announce intentions to challenge Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District. Osef, a first-generation Ukrainian American and a Navy reservist who served on the USS Norfolk submarine, announced his candidacy Thursday. 'I think running for Congress, at least for me, boils down to one fundamental, and that's really to help Virginia's veteran and working class families who are being left behind,' said Osyf, a 40-year-old who works at Lockheed Martin as a defense innovation executive. Kiggans has represented the district, which encompasses part of Hampton Roads including Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk, since 2022. The midterm elections are in 2026. Osyf, who lives in Virginia Beach, said he was driven to run in part because of the recent passage of President Donald Trump's domestic policy spending bill. 'I think what we're facing right now is what you just saw evidenced by the passage of the 'big, beautiful bill,'' he said in an interview. 'I think that the hypocrisy and the dissonance that is on display, by this administration's priorities and this enabling Congress, is what needs to be tackled, and the only way to do that is to elect a new generation of Democrats that are going to be able to engineer government to work and to deliver for the American people.' Osyf took aim at Kiggans, who voted last week in support of the bill. 'Jen Kiggans has abandoned her post, voting last week to rip healthcare away from millions, stop children from receiving SNAP benefits they depend on, and give a tax break to the mega donors who funder her campaign,' he said in a statement. At the time, Kiggans, who also served in the Navy, acknowledged concerns about cuts to Medicaid and clean energy candidates, but said the bill would deliver for the people she represents and voted for its passage. Osyf is the latest candidate to jump into the race. Nicolaus Sleister, of Suffolk, has also filed paperwork to run as a Democrat for the nomination, as has Virginia Beach resident Burk Stringfellow. Both candidates have also taken aim at Kiggans over her ultimate vote in favor of the bill. 'This bill is not beautiful. It is brutal,' said Sleister in a statement issued this week. 'Thousands of military families across Virginia Beach, Suffolk, and the Eastern Shore will see their SNAP and Medicaid benefits gutted. And Rep. Jen Kiggans voted yes — again siding with party insiders instead of the people she was elected to serve.' Stringfellow, who describes himself as more of an activist than a politician, maintains a section on his website entitled 'Jen Kiggans Must Go' with references to her voting record, including on the 'big, beautiful bill.' Kiggans is seeking reelection and is the only Republican running so far. The Virginia Public Access Project describes the district as leaning Republican, but Democrats nationally are eyeing it as competitive. 'This Big, Ugly Bill is a laundry list of Republicans' betrayal to the American people,' said Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 'The DCCC will make sure every battleground voter knows how vulnerable House Republicans — including Kiggans and (Rep. Rob) Wittman — abandoned them by passing the most unpopular piece of legislation in modern American history, and we're going to take back the House majority because of it.' Kate Seltzer, (757)713-7881
Axios
07-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
Clean energy's political test looms now that Trump bill is law
The 2026 midterms will test clean energy's uncertain political salience as advocates attempt to tether it to economic matters that voters prioritize. Why it matters: Both chambers of Congress are narrowly divided and up for grabs next year. The big picture: Democratic and green group campaigns will argue the GOP's "big beautiful bill" that President Trump signed Friday will raise costs and cut jobs. It will be an effort to flip the script on the inflation emphasis and promises of lower costs that were a foundation of the GOP's 2024 message. State of play: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's early list of targeted districts overlaps heavily with 13 House Republicans who voted for their chamber's plan but urged the Senate to soften it. They include competitive seats held by Republicans like Jen Kiggans (Va.), Gabe Evans (Colo.) and Juan Ciscomani (Ariz.). "Despite falsely proclaiming their concerns, House Republicans — including some of their most vulnerable members — knowingly voted to cut jobs, slash investments, and raise energy costs in their districts when they voted for the Big, Ugly Bill," DCCC spokeswoman Courtney Rice tells Axios. The other side: While several polls show the bill is unpopular, Republicans will look to play political offense — especially emphasizing tax cuts and border security measures. Republicans plan to message their legislative victory by branding Democrats' opposition as voting to raise taxes on small businesses and American families, according to an internal memo from the GOP's House campaign's arm shared with Axios' Kate Santaliz. Friction point: Look for Dems and allied groups to cite recent analyses on two topics — IRA and infrastructure law investments and jobs flowing heavily to red states and districts, and potential for higher utility bills when incentives go away. Reality check: The political relevance of low-carbon energy is unclear at best. Democrats lost the House in 2022, shortly after the IRA's passage. Nor did emphasizing clean energy investments stop them from losing the Senate or White House last year, despite messaging on jobs and costs. I'm not saying the IRA is why they lost, but there are plenty of reasons to question its political potency, and more broadly whether voters will prioritize clean tech. As our colleague Hans Nichols notes, the election cycle is still early, and other potential events — such as war or recession — can always make the current issue set look small. Yes, but: This time around, candidates can point more easily to the risk of investments in specific states and districts. Some projects are already getting canceled as Trump officials pull back funding under the IRA and 2021 infrastructure law. What's next: League of Conservation Voters President Pete Maysmith tells Axios that votes on the bill will play a "very significant role" in their midterm election work — and gave a taste of messages to come. "The Republican Congress just broke their promise to the American people and to voters, and that was to cut costs, and instead, what they've done is jack up costs, starting with people's utility bills, but not stopping there, including health care, groceries and a myriad of other things," he said in an interview. LCV is an important player — the group spent $44 million combined on House and Senate races in the 2024 cycle.
Bloomberg
18-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Republican Who Flip-Flopped on Energy Credits Risks Voters' Ire
In the weeks before the House of Representative's vote to gut clean energy tax credits in President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill, Virginia Congresswoman Jen Kiggans cast herself as the leading Republican champion of renewables. Yet in the end, she cast the deciding vote in favor of the bill despite its blow to wind and solar. Now the swift elimination of those subsidies, a rollback that also remains in the Senate version of the legislation, put Kiggans at odds with many in her district — already among the most competitive in the nation — as Democrats seize any opening to take Republicans' House narrow majority next year.
