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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

"Right now, there are no real incentives to dissuade colleges and universities from continuing to raise tuition. It's not going to be easy, but there's no excuse for complacency," Vice President Joseph R. Biden told high school students in Florida this month. (Florida Times-Union via Associated Press)

Degree of frustration with cost of college

As tuition costs skyrocket and graduates walk away with ever-rising amounts of debt, American colleges now face a choice: Remain a part of the problem, or begin contributing to a solution.

December 26, 2011
**FILE** U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (Associated Press)

Run rogue bus operators off road, industry urges

The Obama administration's "relentless" war on unsafe bus companies has claimed at least a dozen victims over the past two years — and the industry wants to see more.

December 25, 2011
Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking Association, objects to the restart provision in the new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration work rules. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Shift on trucker safety rules

The Obama administration on Thursday backed down from part of its plan to trim truckers' workdays, but the new regulations still left both the big-rig industry and its critics fuming.

December 22, 2011

Charter schools must succeed or close

Unlike their traditional counterparts, charter schools aren't guaranteed an endless existence. And that, supporters say, is a good thing.

December 21, 2011
** FILE ** In this Sept. 14, 2009 photo, Encana Corp. placed two 2400 gallon water containers inside this unit on Louis Meeks' property in Pavillion, Wyo. The ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe — is asking the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more information about an EPA investigation into groundwater contamination in a Wyoming gas field. (AP Photo/Casper Star-Tribune, Kerry Huller)

Fracking firm calls EPA move a threat to whole industry

The company at the center of a nationally watched battle with the Environmental Protection Agency over the safety of natural gas "fracking" fears the case could have a "chilling" effect on the development of a booming source of domestic energy.

December 20, 2011
**FILE** President Obama speaks March 14, 2011, about revising the No Child Left Behind education law during an address at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Va. (Associated Press)

Record numbers fail to clear No Child bar

The numbers keep getting worse for the nation's education system. In the 2010-11 academic year, 48 percent of public schools — a record high — failed to meet the "adequate yearly progress" benchmarks established by the No Child Left Behind act, according to a new study by the Center on Education Policy, a nonpartisan think tank.

December 15, 2011
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan delivers a speech during the Puerto Rico Education Summit in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

More school hours don’t guarantee better test scores

Students who spend more hours in the classroom aren't guaranteed higher test scores, and many nations that outpace the U.S. on standardized reading and math assessments keep their children in school for much less time, according to a report from the National School Boards Association.

December 13, 2011
Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

NEA proposes criteria reform for teacher jobs

Performance, not seniority, would play the primary role in whether teachers keep their jobs under a broad reform plan released by the National Education Association last week.

December 11, 2011
** FILE ** Dirt is moved over a water pipeline that will be used at a natural gas drilling site in Washington, Pa. Proponents of extracting natural gas from shale tout fracking as the key to satisfying the nation's booming energy appetite. (Andrew S. Geraci/The Washington Times)

Bad water found at fracking site

Chemicals used to tap natural gas wells in the booming practice known as fracking may be responsible for groundwater contamination in a small town in Wyoming, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.

December 8, 2011
** FILE ** D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

D.C. schools’ test-score gap by race largest in U.S.

While students in other large urban school districts have made significant progress on standardized reading and math tests in recent years, achievement gaps between black and white students remain stubbornly high, with the most lopsided disparities of all coming in the nation's capital.

December 7, 2011
Former corporate executive Herman Cain greets the crowd Saturday at a campaign event in Atlanta, where he suspended his Republican presidential campaign. (Associated Press)

Cain’s exit puts spotlight, target on Gingrich

With Herman Cain suspending his campaign over the weekend, the spotlight in the GOP presidential field is now focused squarely on Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House whose surprise front-runner status has made him the target of rivals and critics less than a month before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

December 4, 2011
Reid

Senate will hear compromise plan on payroll-tax cuts

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is set to offer a "compromise plan" Monday to extend payroll tax cuts now scheduled to expire at the end of the month, a fellow Democratic senator said on "Fox News Sunday."

December 4, 2011
Rep. Michele Bachmann

Bachmann woos Cain’s former backers

With less than a month to go before the crucial Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential hopefuls hope to bolster their chances by picking up former supporters of Herman Cain, the former GOP front-runner who suspended his campaign Saturday.

December 4, 2011
Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa maintained Wednesday that, despite the objections raised by Republicans and the trucking industry to the Obama administration's proposal to reduce the number of hours per day driven by truckers, it's possible to craft a rule that "creates jobs, protects American workers and saves money and lives." (Associated Press)

Business groups slam bid to trim truckers’ hours

A proposed Obama administration rule to reduce the number of hours big-rig drivers can spend behind the wheel each day would hurt truckers while also driving up the cost of food, clothing and other products, industry leaders told a House subcommittee on Wednesday.

November 30, 2011
Education Secretary Arne Duncan says "children who need more are getting less." A new report found inequitable Title 1 funding between poorer schools and wealthier ones. (Associated Press)

Poorer schools not getting fair share of funding

Loopholes in federal education law have allowed districts to funnel more state and local money to wealthy schools at the expense of their low-income counterparts, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Education Department.

November 30, 2011

3 students from U.S. to be freed, Egypt court rules

Three young Americans held in Egypt since Sunday, including 19-year-old Georgetown University student Derrik Sweeney, are set to be released, and family and friends hope they're back in the U.S. within days.

November 24, 2011