See below for a press release from Governor-elect Spanberger’s office regarding her appearance this morning on “Face the Nation. A few thoughts on this.

• First of all, CBS “News” at this point has become a right-wing outfit under the egregiously bad Bari Weiss. And that’s clear in the slanted questions (actually opinions masquerading as questions) by “Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan. I mean, seriously, with Republicans controlling all three branches of government, Brennan’s focus is on supposedly *Democrats* refusing to fund the government? WTF??? “Should Congressional Democrats open the government?” Again, WTF??? “But eight Democrats could cross the aisle and do so?” So basically, Brennan’s just parroting right-wing/Republican talking points here, and it’s total crap.
• Spanberger’s response to this slanted line of questioning was to basically keep saying that we need to get the government open again, as well as focusing on the severe harm to Virginians being done “beginning with the DOGE efforts, continuing with chaotic trade policies, and now in this government shutdown.” This response by Spanberger was excellent: “We need the president to demonstrate leadership, bringing people together, get through whatever negotiations…My priority is…focusing on the needs and the devastation, frankly, that more than 300,000 Virginians are facing. And that’s just the federal employees, government contractors – they will never get made whole. The entirety of Virginia’s economy is impacted by this shutdown, just as we have been impacted by DOGE attacks, and the government needs to reopen quickly.”
• On the b.s. from Brennan on “eight Democrats could cross the aisle and do so,” Spanberger didn’t address that right-wing talking point head on, just said that we need “everyone to vote to open the government.” Of course, Democrats *have* voted over and over again to open the government; the issue is that Republicans only want to do so if they get their way on slashing Affordable Card Act subsidies, etc. Which obviously isn’t acceptable.
• Spanberger pointed out that Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill (Spanberger used the “One Big Beautiful Bill” name, which I’d encourage Democrats not to do) is having “catastrophic impacts on Virginia, taking $26 billion out of our health care, leading to the closure of at least six rural hospitals. We have seen three rural clinics announce their closures. Hundreds of thousands had lose Medicaid. So the impacts on health care are already catastrophic.” Good answer!
• On data centers, Spanberger argued that increased electricity costs aren’t being driven by them in Virginia, at least not so far, BUT importantly she added: “Looking towards the future, we have to be clear-eyed about the fact we will have an energy crisis headed into the future. On the ground in Virginia, we have a case where it will be important that large-scale energy users, particularly data centers, that the public know that they are paying their fair share for the energy that they are using. And we have to increase our energy production here at home so we can meet the demand certainly of larger-scale energy users and increased demand from our communities. And it is a real challenge that we have to get ahead of, and that’s why among the first affordability plans I laid out was focused on energy.” Yep, this is a really important issue for a bunch of reasons.
• By the way, to read Spanberger’s energy plan, see here, in which she talks about “expanding electricity generation sources with low or no fuel cost” (that would be solar and wind, pretty much, as natural gas has a very high fuel cost; also POSSIBLY nuclear power, except that those take many years to build and are FAR more expensive than energy efficiency, solar or wind power – all of which she specifically mentions in her energy plan). So that’s all good stuff, if a bit non-specific at this point; that’s what the Democratic-controlled VA General Assembly’s going to really have to get down into the weeds on in the next few months…
• On the Trump administration pressuring Virginia universities to cave to their demands on “DEI,” etc., Spanberger gave a VERY strong answer on this: “It should shock everyone that universities, public and private, are receiving demands from the federal government and that dollars, research dollars are being withheld, that our universities are under attack. And certainly what we have seen in the case of the University of Virginia, a popular, experienced, excellent president was pushed out, and on the ground here we didn’t see our governor in any way step up in defense of our university. And the idea that the federal government would be withholding federal dollars, you know, including dollars already appropriated by Congress for research, in order to compel universities to take certain actions, it is absolute federal government overreach. As governor, I will be clear-eyed about ensuring that we have structures in place, including boards of visitors across our universities, that want to defend academic freedom and, frankly, the viability and vitality of extraordinary institutions like the University of Virginia.” BINGO!
• On the Democratic Party and its supposed “branding problem” (again, right-wing framing by Brennan), Spanberger responded by focusing on HER victory in Virginia, which she should, adding “I am a capitalist and Democrat and I won by 15 points in Virginia.” And now, she concluded, it’s time to “deliver” on the “mandate” she won this past Tuesday.
• By the way, I’d strongly prefer if Democrats would use more specific language when referring to the Trump/MAGA assault on our democracy, on the federal government, etc.: it’s not generic “chaos,” or generically “out of Washington” or in “Congress” – it’s 100% on Trump and the MAGA Republican Party, and Democrats should say that.

With that, here’s Spanberger’s press release.