A Declaration of Independence from Representative Rob Wittman

When in the course of Virginia events...

Greetings from Wittman Watch!

• Last week we wrote about the rise and fall of Rob Wittman.

• For our Tuesday Myth of the Week, we asked: has Wittman has been good for VA-01, or has VA-01 been good for Wittman?

• Remember to vote in the Virginia referendum by April 21st! (Last day of early in-person voting is April 18th.)

In an 1825 letter to Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson wrote that “the object of the Declaration of Independence” was “not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take.”

And so today, we bring you:

When in the Course of political events, it becomes necessary for constituents to dissolve the bonds which have connected them with their Representative, a decent respect to the opinions of their neighbors requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all people deserve a Representative who actually represents them; that Congressman Rob Wittman has, by a long train of abuses, evasions, and performative press releases, proven himself unworthy of that title. What began as quiet neglect has metastasized into active, measurable harm. The history of his tenure is a history of repeated injuries to the people of VA-01.

To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

I. On Healthcare: Voting Against Our Survival

He has repeatedly voted against the Affordable Care Act and then published five principles for its replacement - none of which became law.

When the ACA offered coverage to hundreds of thousands of Virginians, Wittman declared his commitment to repeal the ACA as a career-defining mission. His five principles produced zero replacement legislation, only higher anxiety for VA-01 residents who just wanted to see a doctor. His office website continues to celebrate this track record of failure as principled leadership.

He swore on a stack of press releases that he would protect Medicaid - and then voted for the largest Medicaid cut in American history.

In April 2025, Wittman co-signed an official letter to Speaker Johnson vowing that he “cannot and will not support a final reconciliation bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.” Weeks later, he cast the deciding vote for the Big Beautiful Bill - which the CBO estimates will strip health coverage from 16 million Americans, including up to 262,000 Virginians. The Virginian-Pilot Editorial Board called it a direct betrayal of his constituents.

He threatened rural hospitals — including those in VA-01 — in order to score points with leadership.

In the very letter he signed, Wittman acknowledged that Medicaid cuts “threaten the viability of hospitals, nursing homes, and safety-net providers nationwide” and that rural providers “are especially at risk of closure.” He then voted for the bill anyway. Rappahannock General Hospital, which serves Virginia’s First Congressional District, was specifically named as “at risk” by the CBO.

He voted against extending ACA tax credits as premiums skyrocketed - then claimed he cared about costs.

For months in late 2025, Wittman resisted extending ACA tax credits, allowing them to expire and driving up premiums for over 388,000 Virginians. He finally voted for an extension in January 2026 - months after the damage was already done and with enrollment already down 10,000 statewide. Constituents report their premiums have doubled.

He gutted SNAP benefits alongside healthcare, ensuring families couldn’t afford food either.

H.R. 1 (the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill”) Wittman helped pass also cut food assistance for Virginia SNAP recipients. The bill’s reach extended from doctor’s offices to kitchen tables. Wittman’s own op-ed in the Virginian-Pilot defending the bill did not mention the hunger cuts once. Working families are unlikely to share his oversight.

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II. On Immigration: Enforcement Without Justice

He has embraced ICE detention, “mass processing facilities” in our own backyard, and enforcement without due process.

When ICE sought to convert a Hanover County warehouse into a mass immigrant processing facility (which meet the definition of concentration camps) - right here in Virginia’s First District - Wittman offered no opposition, only platitudes about “public safety and the rule of law.” He eyed the same district where families live, work, and pay taxes as a detention corridor.

He has cheered enforcement policies that mandate detention without individual assessment.

Wittman backed the Laken Riley Act, which requires mandatory detention without individualized assessment, stripping due process protections from immigrants regardless of their individual circumstances. The broader ICE enforcement expansion he has supported comes with a budget Wittman voted for that allocates $175 billion to immigration enforcement: more than the U.S. Marine Corps.

He has silently enabled the lawless militarism of Pete Hegseth while posting about Small Business Saturday.

While the Defense Secretary reportedly ordered the military to “kill them all” in what military lawyers and peers described as potential war crimes, Wittman — Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee — said nothing. His silence is not harmless. It’s complicity.

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III. On Energy: Fossils Over the Future

He voted to gut clean energy investments worth $18.2 billion and nearly 11,000 jobs in Virginia - all to please fossil fuel donors.

Wittman’s vote for H. R. 1 eliminated clean energy tax credits actively funding 70 projects across Virginia’s Republican congressional districts, worth $18.2 billion in investment and nearly 11,000 jobs, according to independent analysis of Clean Investment Monitor data. The Virginia League of Conservation Voters called the impact “unquestionable” and immediate. Wittman calls it “the Working Families Tax Cut.”

He made H.R. 1 explicitly fossil-fuel friendly while raising energy costs on Virginians.

Beyond killing clean energy tax credits, H. R. 1 expanded federal oil, gas, and coal leasing while adding costs for renewable development - a direct assault on Virginians already paying higher energy prices. In 2025, Trump’s tariffs cost the average Virginia household $1,700 to $2,100; Wittman’s energy votes compound those costs further. Virginia’s own climate assessment warns of rising heat, worsening flooding, and economic losses. Wittman voted to accelerate all of it.

He has a decades-long record of defunding renewable energy to subsidize oil and gas.

Wittman has voted against wind and solar research while supporting fossil fuel subsidies - a consistent pattern across his career documented by the League of Conservation Voters. He has never met an offshore drilling amendment he didn’t like. His LCV score reflects the consequences.

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IV. On Accountability: The (Questionable) Art of the Dodge

He has not held a verifiable in-person town hall since at least 2019, preferring telephone town halls where questions are screened and follow-up is impossible.

Wittman Watch documents that Wittman’s last verifiable in-person town hall was March 2019. Instead, he retreats to Facebook tele-town halls requiring advance registration; many constituents who registered found they could not even join. When furious voters did get through, a Raw Story report described him as “reamed” by the questions he faced, and his answers were evasive at best.

He canceled his mobile office hours after 200 constituents showed up to confront him.

A 200-person protest outside his offices prompted Wittman to quietly cancel the mobile office hours in Williamsburg and Midlothian that were his last pretense of constituent access. Rather than show up and answer questions, he doubled down on hiding.

Virginians held cardboard-cutout town halls in his absence - because even a cardboard Rob Wittman was more responsive than the real one.

Back in 2017, citizens in Nokesville held a mock town hall complete with a cardboard cutout of their Congressman. The tradition continues: in 2025 (more than once!), volunteer-organized constituent town halls under names like “Where’s Wittman?” and “Rob ‘Runaway’ Wittman Constituents’ Town Hall” met the need he refused to fill.

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V. On DOGE: Cheering the Dismantling of Virginia’s Economy

He backed DOGE cuts that devastated Virginia federal workers, then declined to answer whether he supported mass firings.

During his tele-town hall, Wittman expressed support for DOGE, saying it could “bring some value.” He then voted to codify DOGE cuts into law. When asked directly whether he supported mass federal worker firings, he declined to answer. The VA alone faced the prospect of 80,000 firings, and veteran-serving Republicans on Capitol Hill called it “political malpractice.”

He watched AmeriCorps, community programs, and federal jobs disappear from Virginia without meaningful objection.

DOGE’s cuts ended Virginia community service grants affecting more than 155 AmeriCorps members. Local nonprofits came to his office asking for help. He took the meeting. He took no action.

He voted for a budget that hands most of Virginia’s tax cuts to the wealthiest 10% of earners, and insists on calling it “relief” for working families.

Wittman Watch’s independent analysis of H.R. 1 found that 90% of Virginians will be worse off once tariff costs, higher insurance premiums, fewer jobs, and resulting state tax hikes are factored in. The top 10% of Virginia earners save $13,600. Everyone else saves less than their losses. Wittman named the bill “the Working Families Tax Cut.” He knows — and we know — what he did.

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VI. On War: Conflict Abroad While Ignoring Crisis at Home

He has cheered the Iran strikes and provided rhetorical cover for a war Congress never authorized.

When the Trump administration launched strikes on Iran without congressional authorization, Wittman told national media the U.S. had “significantly degraded” Iran’s nuclear capabilities and offered his full approval. Virginia’s congressional delegation was split; members noted this was a war of choice that bypassed Congress entirely. Wittman was not among those raising Constitutional concerns.

He has supported further cutting healthcare to fund the Iran war.

Reports indicate that Wittman and GOP colleagues discussed using additional healthcare cuts to pay for the Iran conflict, further slashing the Medicaid and ACA funds that Virginians rely on. The people of VA-01 are apparently expected to sacrifice their insulin and basic healthcare for the sake of illegal and unnecessary foreign wars.

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VII. On Personal Enrichment: From Public Servant to $5.5 Million Man

He has more than tripled his net worth during his time in Congress - on the $174,000 salary we pay him.

After nearly two decades in Congress, Wittman’s estimated net worth has ballooned from $109,000 to $5.6 million today. He now pays more in property tax in North Carolina than in Virginia. The Daily Mail reported his eight-bedroom Outer Banks beach house — 150 miles from his district — generates up to $1 million annually in rental income.

He voted to give himself up to $60,000 per year in personal tax cuts through H.R. 1, while the average Virginian gets $50.

Analysis by the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that Wittman’s vote for H. R. 1 will save him between $19,900 and $59,300 annually on his rental income. For the average middle-class Virginian, the tax break amounts to roughly $40 to $50 a year.

He traded millions in stocks, including defense stocks, while sitting on the House Armed Services Committee.

Business Insider reported that Wittman purchased shares in defense contractors including Lockheed Martin and Honeywell while sitting on the very committee that oversees their contracts. He has traded up to $4.7 million in tracked stock transactions since 2015. This is the very definition of the Washington swamp, and Wittman built it himself.

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VIII. On Performative Politics: All Press Release, No Policy

He issues press releases praising legislation he gutted, hoping no one reads the CBO score.

After voting for H.R. 1 that will strip coverage from up to 262,000 Virginians, Wittman issued a double-speak headline statement: “Wittman Votes to Protect Medicaid.” His op-ed in the Virginian-Pilot claims he “kept his word” to constituents. The Virginian-Pilot Editorial Board said he had done the opposite. The results are starting to be clear: so far, 44,000 Virginians have lost ACA coverage. Medicaid losses will start once federal funding streams end. Once fully implemented, up to 310,000 Virginians will lose either ACA or Medicaid healthcare access. And Wittman enthusiastically voted for it.

He has made accountability theater into a governing philosophy.

The more Wittman frets about losing his seat, the more he floods constituents with press releases and misleading emails claiming achievements with which he had little involvement. His Christmas message was described as “a lump of coal he says is a diamond.” His “meaningful wins” email for 2026 listed benefits that independent analysis found would leave most Virginians worse off once all costs are counted.

He worked only 87 days in Congress in a recent session - and still asks for your vote.

Wittman worked just 87 legislative days in a recent congressional session. Most Virginians’ employers would have strong feelings about that attendance record. Wittman has no comment.

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IX. On Taking Credit: Voting No, Then Taking the Dough

He voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill, then claimed credit for the Port of Virginia funding it delivered.

In November 2021, Wittman voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, calling it “the Green New Deal in disguise.” Days after passage, he claimed credit for $70 million in Port of Virginia funding that came directly from that bill. The post was deleted. NBC News reported that Republicans who had voted against the bill were “touting parts of the infrastructure package” they opposed.

He has made a habit of opposing legislation and then claiming its benefits as personal achievements.

President Biden called out this pattern publicly, saying Republicans who voted no were claiming credit “with no shame.” Multiple national outlets documented the pattern. Like a carnival barker, Wittman hypes alleged achievements he had little or nothing to do with, and quietly deletes the evidence when challenged.

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X. On Workers and Retirees: Abandoning the People Who Built VA-01

He has voted against workers’ rights so consistently that the AFL-CIO gave him a 5% score in 2024, and just 13% over his entire Congressional career.

The AFL-CIO scorecard documents Wittman’s record on worker protections going back to 2009. He voted to overturn the NLRB’s pro-worker joint employer rule, opposed collective bargaining protections, and has sided with corporations over workers at virtually every opportunity. He is not a moderate. He is hard-right MAGA on every labor vote that has come before him.

He has earned a 0% score from the Alliance for Retired Americans and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare: a perfect zero.

The Alliance for Retired Americans and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare both give Wittman a zero percent lifetime score. Zero. The farmers, shipyard workers, and federal retirees of Virginia’s First District have a Representative who has voted against their retirement security every single time he had the chance.

He has failed VA-01’s farmers by enabling tariffs that destroyed their markets.

Virginia agriculture contributes some $70 billion to the state economy and employs over 300,000 people. Wittman’s greenlighting of tariffs that triggered retaliatory action from China, Canada, and the EU has put VA-01 farmers directly in the crosshairs. Wittman has not organized a single hearing or held a single in-person meeting to address it.

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XI. On Voting and Reproductive Rights: Restricting Who Gets to Choose

He has backed legislation that would make it harder for 140 million Americans without passports to vote, in a district full of working families who don’t have $165 for a passport.

Wittman co-sponsored previous versions of the SAVE Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, potentially disenfranchising tens of millions of citizens who lack ready access to passports or birth certificates. The Brennan Center at NYU Law called it “one of the worst pieces of voting legislation in American history.”

He has signed amicus briefs to overturn Roe v. Wade, co-sponsored legislation to criminalize abortion care, and voted against the Right to Contraception Act.

EMILY’s List documents that Wittman signed the amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act twice, and voted against the Right to Contraception Act in 2022. He holds an A+ rating from SBA Pro-Life America, an organization whose explicit goal is to end abortion in America. He calls himself a moderate.

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Declaration

We, therefore, the constituents of Virginia’s First Congressional District, appealing to our neighbors and to common sense, do solemnly declare:

That we are, and of right ought to be, free from the political patronage, performative governance, and constituent neglect of Congressman Rob Wittman;

That any Representative who votes to strip our healthcare, welcomes detention centers in our backyard, hides from our questions, enriches himself through legislation he passes for the wealthy, takes credit for bills he opposed, cheers undeclared wars, abandons our farmers and workers, restricts our rights, and earns a perfect zero on protecting Social Security has forfeited his claim to our votes and our trust;

And that we will work, organize, publish, and vote accordingly - this November, and every November thereafter.

Signed,
The constituents Rob Wittman forgot he worked for.