Senators Slam Shutdown Messages – Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine joined 22 Senate colleagues Monday in demanding the Trump administration remove partisan political messages from federal agency websites and employee email accounts. [ALXnow]

Federal Workers Guaranteed Back Pay – Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., whose district includes Alexandria and has one of the largest concentrations of federal employees in Congress, said Tuesday that federal workers are guaranteed back pay “without question or exception,” pushing back against Trump administration warnings that retroactive pay is not assured during the government shutdown. [ALXnow]

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Michael Nachmanoff has built a quiet reputation in the federal courthouse in northern Virginia — a onetime public defender turned judge known for methodical preparation and a cool temperament. On Wednesday, he found himself at the center of a political storm: presiding over the Justice Department’s prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey.

By ERIC TUCKER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press737

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey is set to make his first court appearance Wednesday in a Justice Department criminal case accusing him of lying to Congress five years ago.

About 1,200 people are expected to line the sidewalks of Route 1 on Saturday, Oct. 18, as part of a national day of protests targeting the Trump administration, according to organizers.

The “Hands Across Alexandria” demonstration will run from 9:30 to 11 a.m. along northbound Route 1 between Powhatan Park and Potomac Yard, Indivisible Do Something Alexandria announced Tuesday.