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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com

Ben Wolfgang is a national security correspondent at The Washington Times, a senior member of its Threat Status team, and the host and producer of the award-winning Threat Status Podcast. Ben covers national security, foreign policy, military affairs, the defense industry and the rapidly evolving landscape of military technology.
A Pennsylvania native, he joined The Washington Times in 2011 after serving as a political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa. Over the course of his career, Ben has covered the White House, Congress, and four presidential campaigns.
His reporting has earned recognition from some of journalism's most respected organizations, including the Virginia Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists' Washington, D.C. Chapter, among other honors.
Ben has interviewed heads of state, chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, senior military commanders, cabinet secretaries, senior government officials, and the CEOs of many of the nation's largest and most influential defense companies.
Ben is a frequent guest on broadcast media, with appearances on C-SPAN, the Sirius XM POTUS channel, and other outlets.
He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

** FILE ** Seattle police Officer Jim Britt demonstrates an unmanned aerial vehicle during an informational meeting at which the police attempted answer questions about their drone program at the Garfield Community Center in Seattle on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. The mayor of Seattle ended the police department's drone program in February after residents protested. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Colin Diltz)

Many questions, few answers as Capitol Hill weighs drones, privacy

Could police arm drones with tear gas or pepper spray? Will unmanned aircraft someday conduct 24-hour surveillance on American streets? Which arm of the federal government should take the lead in restricting what drones can do and what information they can collect?

March 20, 2013

Natural gas backers say the time is now for exports

If the Obama administration doesn't act soon, the nation may miss out on a key opportunity to begin closing its trade deficit while U.S. companies also miss out on the chance to sell abundant natural gas to eager international customers, lawmakers said Tuesday.

March 19, 2013
“Once again, the government is arguing with the government while nothing is accomplished,” says Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, for the lack of progress on the proposed St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project. (Associated Press)

GOP takes issue with nominee to head EPA

The Obama administration's choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency is the latest Cabinet nominee to face stiff resistance from Republicans. Sen. Roy Blunt said Monday that he will place a hold on Gina McCarthy, poised to take over the reins of the EPA, until the Obama administration sets a clear time frame for its study of a long-delayed levee project in the senator's home state of Missouri.

March 18, 2013
**FILE** Sen. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 6, 2012, following a Republicans strategy session. (Associated Press)

Sen. Blunt to block Obama EPA nominee over Mo. levee project

Sen. Roy Blunt will place a hold on Gina McCarthy, the White House's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, until the Obama administration sets a time frame for its study of a long-delayed levee project in southeast Missouri.

March 18, 2013

Issue of carbon tax rears up once again

Business leaders joined a group of House Republicans on Wednesday to denounce a tax on carbon emissions — a concept that they acknowledge has virtually no chance of being translated into law anytime soon.

March 13, 2013
DHS and its Customs and Border Protection agency have deployed drones to assist local law enforcement and other federal agencies on several occasions.

Drone industry predicts explosive economic boost

Drones as weapons and drones as spies remain matters of intense debate across the country, but the controversial aircraft are poised to make an impact as something else: economic engines.

March 12, 2013
A proposal to build a third nuclear reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Md., was rejected Monday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (Associated Press)

New nuclear reactor for Maryland rejected

Plans to build a third reactor at southern Maryland's Calvert Cliffs were halted — perhaps permanently — on Monday as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission upheld its earlier decision to reject the project.

March 11, 2013
** FILE ** President Obama listens as his nominee for interior secretary, REI Chief Executive Officer Sally Jewell, speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. (Associated Press)

Interior pick backs coal, dodges on carbon tax

President Obama's pick to lead the Interior Department had kind words for coal Thursday but dodged the politically sticky issue of whether she backs a carbon tax — a measure that critics fear would drive the domestic coal industry into the ground.

March 7, 2013

Feds deny having drones that track guns, phones

The federal government is pushing back against reports that it has drones specifically designed to track firearms and cellphone signals, the latest clash of an increasingly paranoid public and an administration trying to keep its unmanned aerial systems program under wraps.

March 6, 2013
House Speaker John A. Boehner (left), Ohio Republican, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican (Associated Press)

McConnell and Boehner: Republicans united on sequesters

They spent the weekend blaming each other for the $85 billion in sequestration cuts that began taking effect Friday — but top Democrats and Republicans were careful Sunday to keep the door open to a breakthrough deal on the federal budget.

March 3, 2013
** FILE ** Gene Sperling, counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, arrives for the tax cut extension bill to be signed by President Obama during a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex in Washington on Dec. 17, 2010. Mr. Obama was set to name Mr. Sperling director of the National Economic Council on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sperling and Woodward agree to move on

The bizarre back-and-forth between the White House and legendary Watergate reporter Bob Woodward has come to a close as both sides agreed on Sunday to move on.

March 3, 2013