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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 - In this July 20, 2013 file photo, a plant that produces ethanol is next to a cornfield near Coon Rapids, Iowa. For decades, a presidential candidate’s chances in Iowa were wounded if not doomed unless he embraced federal support for ethanol, a now flourishing component to Iowa’s economy in this corn-growing state. That immutable rule collapsed resoundingly early in the last campaign when five of the six top Republican candidates largely renounced a decades-old ethanol tax credit. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Ethanol mandate threatens jobs, could raise prices at pumps, oil refiners say

A renewed war over the federal ethanol mandate has cast a cloud over the biofuels industry as it gathers this week for its annual convention, with critics charging that the sector and its champions in Washington are slowly crushing oil refiners, which say they are struggling to comply with the law.

February 12, 2018
Sen. Ted Cruz has become public enemy No. 1 for the ethanol industry. He's held up federal nominees over his opposition to the national biofuels mandate. talks with a reporter as he gets on an elevator on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Associated Press)

Ted Cruz battles ethanol industry over national biofuels mandate

SAN ANTONIO | As ethanol leaders meet here in the heart of his home turf, Sen. Ted Cruz has emerged as Washington's leading critic of the industry, holding up federal nominees over his opposition to the national biofuels mandate, lambasting the sector in fiery Senate floor speeches, and leading a coalition of oil-friendly lawmakers to the Oval Office in hopes of weakening the Renewable Fuel Standard.

February 12, 2018
In this Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, photo, coal ash is removed from the Dan River Steam Station in Eden, N.C., to be transported by rail to a permanent site in Virginia. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Donald Trump push for ‘beautiful, clean coal’ reignites old debate

President Trump's declaration last week that his administration is pushing "beautiful, clean coal" has reignited a debate about whether such a fuel truly exists, with environmentalists and other critics — even including some industry leaders — charging that "clean coal" often is a misnomer and little more than a political catchphrase.

February 4, 2018
This sign located near the headquarters of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as seen Tuesday, July 17, 2007, in Austin, Texas, calls for the removal of chairwoman Kathleen Hartnett White. Tom "Smitty" Smith, of the watchdog group, Public Citizen, that sponsors the billboard, says they are targeting her because of the quality of her decision making, which they say has been bad for the environment in Texas. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

Kathleen Hartnett White nomination as Trump environmental adviser to be pulled

Amid strong opposition and doubts that she'd be able to clear the Republican-controlled Senate, the nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White to serve as President Trump's top environmental adviser was shelved late Saturday in an admission by the White House that their pick was unlikely to be confirmed.

February 4, 2018
A flame burns at the Shell Deer Park oil refinery in Deer Park, Texas, on Aug. 31, 2017. (Associated Press) **FILE**

U.S. oil production hits highest level in nearly 50 years

Amid President Trump's vow to bring about American "energy dominance," U.S. crude oil production hit a five-decade high late last year and has nearly doubled over the past decade, continuing the country's steady ascent as one of the world's premier oil-and-gas hubs.

February 1, 2018
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke gave Florida a waiver out of the offshore drilling proposal. Now more states are also trying to get passes out of the energy plan. (Associated Press)

Governors want offshore oil drilling exemptions, too

By giving Florida a waiver from its massive offshore drilling proposal, the Trump administration has opened a door that virtually every East Coast state, including those led by Republicans, is now trying to rush through.

January 28, 2018
A change in federal requirements that regulate the fuel efficiency of new cars and trucks could mean consumers pay less per car but more for gasoline. (Associated Press/File)

Automakers, environmentalists battle over CAFE standards

The Washington Auto Show this week is the backdrop for a high-stakes fight between environmentalists and the American auto industry, with each side pressing its case ahead of a key Trump administration decision on whether to relax national fuel economy standards.

January 25, 2018
This April 20, 2011, file photo shows some of the 30,000 solar panels that make up the Public Service Company of New Mexico's new 2-megawatt photovoltaic array in Albuquerque, N.M. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan,File) **FILE**

Energy Dept. launches $3M solar manufacturing competition

Two days after President Trump slapped a 30 percent tariff on foreign solar panels, Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Wednesday announced a $3 million grant competition to spur America's solar manufacturing sector.

January 24, 2018
FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2013, file photo, a driver passes a small boat harbor in King Cove, Alaska. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed a land exchange agreement Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, authorizing a swap of federal land in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge for land owned by King Cove Corporation that could lead to a road through the refuge so King Cove residents can have land access to an all-weather airport at Cold Bay, Alaska. (James Brooks/Kodiak Daily Mirror via AP, File)

Trump officials green light road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge

The Trump administration's move this week to green light a highly controversial one-lane road through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge signals a dramatic shift in approach from the Obama era, with the White House no longer bowing to pressure to conservationists, environmentalists, and liberal Democrats.

January 23, 2018
Diana Steskal rests her head on her husband Byron's shoulder as Nebraska Public Service Commissioners rise to leave following their vote approving the TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline "mainline alternative route" through the state Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, in Lincoln, Neb. The couple are landowners in the path of the pipeline. (Eric Gregory/The Journal-Star via AP) ** FILE **

TransCanada: Keystone XL pipeline construction will start next year

After a decade of uncertainty and near-constant battles with federal and state regulators, TransCanada said Thursday it plans to break ground on the Keystone XL oil pipeline next year, delivering a huge win for the energy industry and laying to rest rumors it was on the verge of walking away from the $8 billion project.

January 18, 2018