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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

Education Secretary Arne Duncan (Associated Press)

White House requires school athletics for disabled

In a sweeping move that will affect all American schools, the Obama administration has told districts they must offer students with disabilities the same sports opportunities as other children.

January 25, 2013
Piping is removed from a drill used in the "fracking" process to recover natural gas from the massive Marcellus Shale in Washington, Pa. The technology is changing Pennsylvania's economy. (Andrew S. Geraci/The Washington Times)

Fracking’s rise in U.S. inspires the world

The U.S. energy industry clearly still leads the way on fracking, which has upended global energy markets, but the rest of the world is beginning to catch up as nations seek to replicate American success in oil and natural gas development.

January 24, 2013
**FILE** An irrigation pivot remains along a highway several miles near the proposed new route for the Keystone XL pipeline in Neligh, Neb. (Associated Press)

Obama faces new pressure on Keystone pipeline

President Obama's Inauguration Day vow to fight climate change is facing an unexpectedly early test as a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline now rests solely with his administration.

January 22, 2013
The departure of Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar and other Cabinet members gives oil and gas leaders optimism that President Obama's energy and environmental policies will be friendlier to the industry during his second term. (Associated Press)

Interior’s Salazar helps empty Obama’s Cabinet

Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar's resignation doesn't just leave another open spot in President Obama's Cabinet. The departure of the former senator from Colorado could have far-reaching effects on the administration's energy and environmental policies in a second term — particularly oil and gas drilling on federal lands.

January 16, 2013
In “Promised Land,” Matt Damon plays a gas company salesman trying to persuade residents of a town to allow fracking on their land. (Associated Press)

Frack attacks and filmmakers who fight back

The intense debate over fracking continues to play out on movie screens and television sets nationwide — and this time the industry's defenders are fighting back.

January 15, 2013
** FILE ** A freshman Republican state lawmaker from North Dakota plans to introduce a bill that would limit use of drones for law enforcement after the highly publicized case of a Lakota farmer who was arrested after a 16-hour standoff with police on Jan. 6, 2013. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection via Associated Press)

Laws urged to curb snooping by drones

Big Brother and Big Business may soon be able to easily spy on American citizens using surveillance drones, security and civil liberties specialists warned Tuesday.

January 15, 2013
** FILE ** In this Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a meeting in the Red Room at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

Gov. Cuomo on the spot as N.Y. considers fracking

With nearby states cashing in but environmentalists and Hollywood stars urging him to back off, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is running out of time to decide whether his state will join the natural-gas fracking boom.

January 14, 2013
** FILE ** This Dec. 5, 2012, photo shows an oil pump jack in a field adjacent to a sub-division near Fredrick, Colo. Citizen fears about hydraulic fracturing, a drilling procedure used to pry oil and gas from rock deep underground, have made "fracking" the hottest political question in Colorado.

Fracking viewed as good; water worries remain

A majority of Americans support fracking, but even larger majorities remain concerned about the drilling process' potential impacts on drinking water quality and support more research into the practice, new polling data show.

January 10, 2013
**FILE** President Obama talks with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson on Jan. 10, 2012, at EPA headquarters. (Associated Press)

Lawmakers seek leverage on Obama energy push

America's energy outlook this year will be, more than ever before, tied to how the federal government approaches the issue of climate change — and how much leverage the new Congress will have to help or hinder those efforts.

January 7, 2013
** FILE ** Tucked into the “fiscal cliff” tax package approved by Congress this week were billions of dollars in tax breaks, including a tax credit for the production of wind, solar and other renewable energy. (Associated Press)

Wind-power subsidy spared cuts

Federal support for wind power will last for at least one more year under a little-noticed portion of the "fiscal cliff" deal reached earlier this week.

January 3, 2013
President Barack Obama speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington after meeting with congressional leaders regarding the fiscal cliff, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Obama wants ban on assault weapons

The national debate over gun control may have been pushed to the back burner in favor of the "fiscal cliff" battle, but President Obama remains committed to confronting the issue no matter the resistance from gun owners and the National Rifle Association.

December 30, 2012
** FILE ** Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican (The Washington Times)

Graham: Obama has won ‘fiscal cliff’ battle

A top Republican senator is conceding defeat in the debate with President Obama over how best to avoid the "fiscal cliff," accepting that tax increases now appear inevitable.

December 30, 2012
** FILE ** This photo April 17, 2012, file photo shows Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson during an interview with The Associated Press at EPA Headquarters in Washington. Jackson, The Obama administration's chief environmental watchdog, is stepping down after a nearly four-year tenure marked by high-profile brawls over global warming pollution, the Keystone XL oil pipeline, new controls on coal-fired plants and several other hot-button issues that affect the nation's economy and people's health. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

Jackson leaves EPA to mixed reviews

A hero to the environmental movement and a constant thorn in the sides of Republicans and the energy sector, outgoing Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson presided over one of the most controversial and dramatic periods in the agency's history.

December 27, 2012
The EPA is preparing a report on environment aspects of “fracking,” a method of drilling for natural gas and oil that has been a boon for many communities. (Associated Press)

EPA offers hints on fracking’s future

The Obama administration has pulled back the curtain on its long-awaited study of the possible correlation between water pollution and fracking, but the full results and definitive findings of its far-reaching report won't be released until 2014.

December 23, 2012