Myth of the Week: Is Wittman good for the military & veterans?
Spoiler: no.
Welcome to Myth of the Week, where we address some of the most-repeated myths about Rob Wittman’s work as our VA-01 Congressional representative.
MYTH:
Wittman is good for the military and veterans.
REALITY:
He’s been spectacularly ineffective at managing the district’s military priorities, in both defense spending and veterans’ issues.
Much of Virginia’s defense spending results from geographic and economic realities rather than any individual’s congressional action. VA-01 receives substantial defense contracts regardless of representation due to Norfolk Naval Station, Pentagon proximity, and established contractor relationships. Has Wittman helped VA-01 exceed expectations, or delivered exponential growth based on our geographic and economic foundations? Plainly and simply: no.
As we wrote on our social channels about a Politico article that lamented his possible exit from Congress, he hasn’t secured anywhere near enough for the region’s defense installations and industries.
His ineptitude has let other states benefit more from defense spending, even though he’s Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee! VA’s defense economy grew just 6.5% from FY2020 to FY2023 - lagging behind the 67% national defense spending increases of 2007 to 2023. VA’s share of state GDP attributable to defense declined from 11.3% in FY2020 to 9.7% in FY2023.
Wittman has secured things like $2.2m military construction projects and Naval Weapons Station Yorktown infrastructure, but these are incremental gains, not transformative economic interventions. He’s just barely punching the clock.
He keeps putting our people in harm’s way without justification. As Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, he has said nothing about Pete Hegseth’s security leaks, illegal attacks on Venezuela, the National Guard in US cities, or anything else. He is silently complicit with Trump’s unauthorized, illegal, unjustified military actions within and against other nations.
Wittman has delivered some benefits:
97% of Bethel Manor Elementary School’s student body in York County is military-connected (i.e. children of Langley AFB personnel), and Wittman helped get $3.25m for new classrooms to alleviate overcrowding.
He secured $2.2m for Naval Weapons Station Yorktown to upgrade shore power infrastructure, improving operational readiness for Virginia-class submarines and working conditions for sailors and dock workers.
Wittman’s mediocre tenure becomes more starkly obvious when compared to other members of Congress in similar districts:
Elaine Luria (formerly of D-VA-02, 2019-2023), in just two terms (compared to Wittman’s nine terms) secured $15 million for Norfolk Harbor operations and led bipartisan efforts on military healthcare. Despite her short tenure, she achieved district-specific appropriations comparable to Wittman’s - imagine what she might do when she’s re-elected in 2026!
Joe Courtney (D-CT, 2007-present) represents Connecticut’s submarine-manufacturing district. He secured $1 billion in additional Virginia-class funding, and $615 million in advanced procurement. Courtney’s successes demonstrate superior tactical legislative effectiveness on submarine issues specifically.
Mike Rogers (R-AL, 2003-present) is the House Armed Services Committee chairman. He secured $197 million in military construction for Alabama in FY2026, including $50 million for Anniston Army Depot and $55 million for Redstone Arsenal.
With regard to veterans, Wittman frequently proposes other legislation to benefit our veterans, but that ends up going nowhere. The Veterans Collaboration Act, BRAVE Act (veteran mental health notification system), Veterans Choice Accountability Act, and Veterans Affairs Transfer of Information Act are just fantasies without any concrete, delivered benefits for veterans and their families.
Tellingly, as far as we can determine, no veterans’ group has ever endorsed Wittman. The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), AMVETS, VoteVets, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), and similar groups have never associated themselves with Wittman, except for some public speaking events. On the other hand, VoteVets has endorsed several Democratic Party candidates (including Elaine Luria for VA-02), and some of the candidates for VA-01 are demonstrating their own veteran status and military credentials (Jason Knapp, Elizabeth Dempsey-Beggs, Mel Tull, Lewis Littlepage).
We can’t afford to have ineffective Wittman occupy our seat in Congress. From the mid-2030s, Hampton Roads (where defense spending comprises 39% of the economy) will be the center of the AUKUS submarine agreement, and could benefit from $40bn annual submarine construction spending. Do we trust Wittman to capture those opportunities? HECK NO.
So when someone claims that Wittman is effective for VA-01’s military and veterans, you have evidence to the contrary. We really need someone who’ll drive this district to ever-greater growth — from which the military, veterans, and all of us can benefit.