Virginian-Pilot Ed Board Slams Kiggans and Wittman: Virginians “Know a Betrayal When They See It”

The Virginian-Pilot Editorial Board today is slamming Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman for breaking their promise to Virginia voters after they voted to make the largest cuts to Medicaid in history and to eliminate good-paying energy jobs in Hampton Roads.

The Pilot writes: “Kiggans and Wittman promised to protect Hampton Roads residents and jobs, and to fight for fiscal responsibility, only to fold when the moment demanded courage. They can try to spin this vote however they like, but residents know a betrayal when they see it.”

Read the scorching editorial for yourself:

• For years, Republican officials such as U.S. Reps. Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans shouted themselves hoarse about the mounting national debt, worrying it would saddle future generations with the decisions of today. Elect us, they said, and we’ll get it under control.
• More recently, Wittman and Kiggans were among those GOP lawmakers who stood against legislation that made cuts to Medicaid. Kiggans was also among a handful who argued against the folly of ending clean energy tax credits that would directly affect jobs and opportunity here in Hampton Roads.
• Now the public knows better.
• Last week, both Wittman and Kiggans joined with all but two Republicans to pass the embarrassingly named One Big Beautiful Bill Act, an enormous package of tax provisions and spending that will reshape the country into a more brutal, less empathetic and less fair place.
• In doing so, the two local lawmakers went back on their promise to take firm hold of the national debt; this bill will add an estimated $3 trillion to $4 trillion to that already bloated figure. The legislation will make deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, forcing millions of Americans to live without access to affordable health care. And they voted to kill federal programs that directly support thousands of jobs in our region.
• Analysis of the legislation suggests Hampton Roads residents, including those in the districts Wittman and Kiggans represent, will face hard times in the very near future.
• Some 323,000 Virginians could lose their health care coverage and 204,000 could lose access to benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The loss of clean energy tax credits could cost the commonwealth as many as 20,000 jobs and hamstring the promise of a sector already growing the regional economy.
• No matter what congressional leaders and the president say, economic growth won’t offset the harm done here, nor excuse the policy priorities this bill advances.
• Kiggans and Wittman promised to protect Hampton Roads residents and jobs, and to fight for fiscal responsibility, only to fold when the moment demanded courage. They can try to spin this vote however they like, but residents know a betrayal when they see it.

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