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Ghazala Hashmi slams Republicans for budget cuts
The Indian American state senator criticized Republican leader Rob Wittman’s silence on proposed federal budget cuts, especially those threatening Medicaid coverage.
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Pranavi Sharma - Fri, 18, Apr 2025
- 03:16 EDT
- 136
Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi / Wikipedia
Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi held a town hall meeting on Apr.14, where more than 100 residents from the state’s 1st District gathered to share concerns ranging from the rising cost of living to threats against public programs like Medicaid and public education.
“We’re going to see the impact that is about to happen in just a few months for hundreds of thousands of Virginians,” Hashmi told the crowd. “Impact on education — you don’t have to actually shut down a federal agency is what we’re seeing — you can just fire the staff.”
Hashmi criticized what she described as silence from U.S. representative for Virginia's 1st congressional district since 2007 and Republican Rob Wittman on proposed federal budget cuts, especially those threatening Medicaid coverage. “This is something Congressman Wittman should be standing up and defending,” she said. “Have any of you seen him say he is not going to support that budget that will be passed which strips away Medicaid? I haven’t… We need to have a Governor, a Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General who is going to be fighting for us on that.”
A campaign rooted in defiance
Hashmi, who made history in 2019 as the first Muslim elected to the Virginia State Senate, is now running for Lieutenant Governor, a campaign she launched in May 2024. The town hall was a glimpse into the concerns driving her bid for statewide office and into the personal history that shapes her political voice.
Hashmi on Apr.17 also reflected on her decision to enter politics in response to the divisive rhetoric she witnessed during the Trump presidency. Sharing a moment from 2019 on X, she recalled the anger and resolve that pushed her to run.
“My response in 2019 when I felt that outrage and that anger was to run for office,” she wrote on X. “And to say to this, I’m going to call him a jackass, jackass in Washington, that I as a Muslim, I as a woman, and I as an immigrant, all of the things that you try to demonize — I’m going to win this damn seat in the heart of the Congress.”
I’m not new to taking on Trump.
— Senator Hashmi (@SenatorHashmi) April 16, 2025
My response in 2019 when I felt that outrage was to run for office and to say to that jack*ss, that I as a Muslim, as a woman, and as an immigrant, who you try to demonize, I’m going to win this damn seat in the heart of the Confederacy. I won. pic.twitter.com/m8xSy2BeAq
That year, Hashmi unseated a well-established Republican Sen. Glen Sturtevant, flipped her district, and helped Democrats take control of Virginia’s State Senate.
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