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Virginia GOP Chair steps down after crushing 2025 loss — vows to rally party against Democrats’ ‘power grab’

Virginia GOP Chair steps down after crushing 2025 loss — vows to rally party against Democrats’ ‘power grab’

Virginia’s Republican Party (RPV) chair was praised Tuesday, as he announced his resignation after a short but electorally tumultuous tenure, promising a renewed personal focus on fighting Democrats’ redistricting “power grab.” RPV Chairman Mark Peake, who is also a state senator representing Lynchburg, Bedford and Forest, will have held the role for about eight months – taking the reins in April after previous chairman, Col. Rich Anderson [Ret.], resigned to accept President Donald Trump’s nomination as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force. Peake’s resignation comes after the GOP suffered crippling election losses in November, including a total flip of statewide offices and the loss of about a dozen House of Delegates seats. Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears lost in her quest to succeed outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin, while Attorney General Jason Miyares was ousted by scandal-plagued Norfolk Democrat Jay Jones. More than a dozen Republican delegates in both swing districts like Del. Geary Higgins of Lovettsville and friendlier districts like Del. Chris Obenshain of Blacksburg also lost reelection. In a lengthy letter to Virginia Republican leaders obtained by Fox News Digital, Peake wrote that he made his decision after much “reflection, prayer and conversations with my family.” WINSOME SEARS BLASTS VIRGINIA DEMS’ SURPRISE REDISTRICTING SESSION AS A ‘STUNT’ TO PULL HER OFF THE TRAIL “While my time as chairman will soon come to an end, my work on behalf of Virginians will not. I will continue serving in the State Senate, where I remain committed to standing firmly against radical Democratic policies and fighting for a brighter future for every corner of the commonwealth,” Peake said. Peake suggested his resignation from leading the party and simultaneously serving in Richmond would allow him to focus completely on combating Virginia Democrats’ full-scale attempts to shift the commonwealth far to the left. His decision was praised by the Senate’s top Republican, Sen. Ryan McDougle of Hanover, who told Fox News Digital that Peake stood up to lead the party when “no one else would.” “I’m proud of the work he’s done this past year to protect your paycheck and keep Virginia the best place to live, work, and raise a family,” McDougle said Tuesday. “I’m glad to have him on my team in the Senate as we keep fighting to put more money in your pocket and reduce costs for Virginia families.” Peake noted the October 31 resolution — heralded by Senate Leader L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, which may redraw congressional maps and potentially leave just Rep. Morgan Griffith in the far southwest as Virginia’s only Republican in Washington – saying it will “destroy our constitutional process.” “The Democrats are intent on setting a state-wide referendum for April 2026, which will include 45 days of early voting. As a state senator, I will be fully engrossed in our legislative session, which lasts from January to March,” he said. RAMASWAMY ENDORSES WINSOME EARLE-SEARS FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR, RALLY PLANNED NEXT WEEK IN SWING SUBURB During session, RPV must have a leader who can fully focus on his role at the state party level, versus someone like himself who would have to keep one eye on the party and its 2026 elections – where all state senators, state delegates, congressmen and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., are up — and one eye on elected Democrats and their “power grab,” Peake wrote to GOP officials. He thanked Youngkin, Earle-Sears and Miyares for their partnership as they prepare to leave office. Peake also credited McDougle and state House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Cumberland Gap, for their work together, as he looks to pivot back to working alongside them in Richmond. Turning to the state of the commonwealth, Peake remarked that while it feels like the “cold, dark depths of winter” in more ways than one, he is confident RPV and the elected Republicans it supports will continue to fight for “values embodied in the Republican Creed, which can lead us to a victorious spring.” “Our ideas are strong, our voters are energized, and our mission – to secure a freer, safer, more prosperous Virginia – endures. I believe that the foundations of our party remain strong, and that this organization is filled with passionate individuals who have proven their loyalty to our commonwealth and to the conservative movement,” he said. Fox News Digital reached out to Kilgore as well as Lucas for comment.

Top Dem blasts Trump’s cartel strikes, says admin overstepping war powers

Top Dem blasts Trump’s cartel strikes, says admin overstepping war powers

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, blasted the Trump administration’s airstrikes in the Caribbean, arguing that they resemble powers the president would only have during wartime. To conduct any of the strikes — and to continue them — Trump should seek congressional approval, Raskin argued. “Congress has got to assert our institutional prerogative. We have the power to declare war. Not Donald Trump, not JD Vance, not Pete Hegseth, not Tulsi Gabbard,” Raskin said, referring to the country’s top security officials. “Nobody in the administration has the right to declare war. Only Congress has the right to declare war. And we’ve got to take that back.” GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY BEHIND TRUMP’S VENEZUELA STRIKES AS CRITICS QUESTION LEGALITY Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, the administration designated several drug cartels operating in the United States — and internationally — as terrorist organizations. In recent months, it has used Navy strikes in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela to eliminate what it has identified as credible terrorist threats in the United States. The administration has conducted over 20 strikes since November.  That framing has come under fire in recent weeks as questions have emerged about whether striking boats in international waters violates international law. To Raskin, the strikes have encroached on questions of due process. HEGSETH SAYS MILITARY CONDUCTED ANOTHER STRIKE ON BOAT CARRYING ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS “We don’t allow the military to act as [a] police officer, the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and executioner. And we don’t just give massive death penalties by virtue of some imaginary collective punishment or guilt by association. So, we’ve got to rein the administration in and bring them back to the rule of law in the Constitution,” Raskin said. Some lawmakers, including Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, have pushed back on Raskin’s criticisms by noting the United States has conducted strikes in other countries in the absence of a declaration of war. Under the Obama administration, for instance, the United States carried out thousands of strikes in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya — all without a formal war designation. Congress did, however, pass the Authorization for Use of Military Force in 2001, allowing the Bush administration to “use all necessary and appropriate force” to combat the terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. It fell short of a formal war declaration. DEM PRESSURE BUILDS FOR ANSWERS ON TRUMP’S CARIBBEAN STRIKES, COMMANDER’S SUDDEN EXIT Raskin did not readily address why analogous strikes in the Middle East didn’t compare directly to the strikes off the coast of Venezuela or why the terrorist designation fell outside the norm of what past administrations have done. He said he believed a difference in location wasn’t the issue. “[Arguing] if this were a different event that took place in a different place at a different time, it would be lawful. Well, it’s gobbledygook,” Raskin said. The Department of War did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for a response to Raskin’s criticism.