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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.

Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.

Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.

He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

A Predator B unmanned aircraft lands after a mission in Texas in November. U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses the unmanned aircraft outfitted with powerful infrared cameras and sensitive radar to patrol U.S. borders. (Associated Press)

FAA gets pressed on drone test sites

The drone industry joined with state officials Tuesday in pressuring the federal government to stop dragging its feet and begin setting up vital test sites for unmanned aerial vehicles. Published September 25, 2012

** FILE ** Graduates listen to the commencement address at Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo, Mich., in June 2011. (Associated Press)

Data: High school students aren’t ready for college

Most of the nation's 2012 high school graduates aren't ready for college, and their reading skills continue to steadily decline, hitting their lowest level in four decades, new data show. Published September 24, 2012

Chicago teachers and their supporters rallied as Mayor Rahm Emanuel sought a compromise. Though the union didn’t win everything it wanted, the battle has encouraged teachers unions to hold workshops and town halls in other cities. (Associated Press)

Chicago schools strike incites teachers unions

With Chicago's ugly strike behind them, teachers unions are regrouping with a public relations blitz, meant to both repair their image and rally members who are under more fire than ever. Published September 23, 2012

Villaraigosa

Mayors stand up to striking teachers

As the Chicago teachers strike drags on, clear battle lines are emerging, with big-city mayors — including prominent Democrats — rallying to the side of Rahm Emanuel in his bitter showdown with organized labor. Published September 12, 2012

Chicago teachers walk a picket line outside Benjamin Banneker Elementary School in Chicago on Sept. 10, 2012, after they went on strike for the first time in 25 years. Union and district officials failed to reach a contract agreement despite intense weekend negotiations. (Associated Press)

Obama stepping away from Chicago strike

Chicago teachers demanding more pay went on strike Monday in a move that reverberated nationally, with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney saying the walkout reflects poorly on President Obama and his allies in the teachers labor unions. Published September 10, 2012

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, says the race for the White House is a “gut-check election for America.” He has been coy about his own ambitions for higher office. (Associated Press)

Jockeying for 2016 begins in earnest at DNC

Ambitious up-and-comers used this week's Democratic National Convention to introduce themselves to the nation and began carving a foothold for 2016. Published September 6, 2012

"He's seen as anti-coal. Some people feel as if the mines aren't operating as fully as they could be." - Charlene Marshall, the former mayor of Morgantown, W.Va., and now a state legislator and delegate at the convention. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Obama seen as ‘anti-coal’ figure

The uneasy relationship between President Obama and coal-state Democrats is on display at the party's convention this week, with delegates from states such as West Virginia and Kentucky openly acknowledging the president has dug himself a hole. Published September 5, 2012

“[Marijuana legalization] is a gigantic issue when you consider tens of millions of Americans are convicted felons that otherwise, but for these drugs laws, wouldn’t be,” said Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party candidate. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Libertarian Johnson presses case for legal marijuana

Still struggling to break through in the presidential race, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson on Tuesday rallied outside the Democratic National Convention with other critics of the federal government's war on drugs and blasted both President Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney for ignoring the issue. Published September 4, 2012

Teachers unions face fight within party

The overwhelming power of teachers unions, Democrats' most loyal foot soldiers for decades, has sparked tensions within the party as some question whether the labor groups have made public school reform — a key policy goal of President Obama — more difficult. Published September 3, 2012

Attendees, of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, North America 2012 conference checks out one of the exhibits displayed inside the exhibition hall of the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nev., on Wednesday, August 8, 2012. (Martin S. Fuentes/Special to The Washington Times)

Police groups urge limit on drones

Faced with a skeptical public uneasy about the potential impact of drones on personal privacy, three leading law enforcement groups on Friday endorsed industry-backed guidelines limiting the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Published September 2, 2012

**FILE** The Rev. Sun Myung Moon hugs North Korean President Kim Il Sung. (Courtesy of H.S.A.-U.W.C.)

The Rev. Sun Myung Moon motivated to bring end to communism

The legacy of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon will forever be tied to the fight to defeat communism, a cause to which he devoted much of his life's work and, in the process, earned a place in history as a contributor to the end of the Cold War. Published September 2, 2012

A Predator B unmanned aircraft lands after a mission in Texas in November. U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses the unmanned aircraft outfitted with powerful infrared cameras and sensitive radar to patrol U.S. borders. (Associated Press)

Law enforcement groups back drone-use guidelines

In the ongoing effort to quell public unease about the impact of of unmanned drones on personal privacy, three more leading law enforcement groups on Friday endorsed industry-backed guidelines limiting the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. Published August 31, 2012

**FILE** Yoko Ono appears at a news conference to launch the coalition of artists opposing hydraulic fracturing on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, in New York. (Associated Press)

Stars shine a light on fracking call in New York

New York has taken center stage in the heated national debate over fracking, with both sides making last-ditch appeals to Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he nears a decision on whether to allow the popular yet controversial practice in the Empire State. Published August 29, 2012

In this Friday, July 29, 2011, photo, President Barack Obama walks down a ramp after delivering a speech at a gathering where he announced new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks at the Washington Convention Center in Washington.The average gas mileage of new cars and trucks will have to nearly double by 2025 under regulations that were finalized Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012, by the Obama administration. The new rules would require the fleet of new cars and trucks to average 54.5 miles per gallon in 13 years, up from 28.6 mpg at the end of last year. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Regulations to boost auto MPG, price tag

The Obama administration on Tuesday released final regulations forcing automakers to more than double the fuel economy of cars and light trucks by 2025 — and adding at least $1,800 to their price tags. Published August 28, 2012

Retired Air Force Col. Jerry LeMieux, founder of the Unmanned Vehicle University, is waiting for FAA certification so graduates will be fully licensed by the federal government to operate drones. The university teaches a variety of subjects online, including vehicle design and system fundamentals. (Martin S. Fuentes/Special to The Washington Times)

Drone U. rides flight boom

For all of the skeptics and detractors it has produced, the drone industry also has its vocal supporters. Published August 26, 2012

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney answers a question after landing in Portsmouth, N.H., on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Romney again repudiates Akin’s rape comments

Even as they gear up their party convention in Tampa, top Republicans still were forced to spend much of Sunday repudiating the "legitimate rape" comments made by Rep. W. Todd Akin of Missouri and reiterating their calls for the U.S. Senate hopeful to quit the race. Published August 26, 2012

President Obama talks with Lori Elizabeth Henrickson, an earth science teacher at Del Webb Middle School, as he visits with teachers at Canyon Springs High School in North Las Vegas, Nev., on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Poll: Americans want fiscal problems solved before school funding goes up

As President Obama continues to assail the Republican presidential ticket for pushing a budget blueprint that could cut education spending, polling data that emerged Wednesday shows that the vast majority of Americans think getting the U.S. back on solid fiscal footing trumps increasing school funding. Published August 22, 2012

** FILE ** This file photo from October 2008 shows a coal-fired power plant in Colstrip, Mont., the state's largest producer of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. (Associated Press)

Court slaps down EPA on coal plant rule

In a major blow to environmentalists and the Obama administration's crackdown on coal-fired power plants, a federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a key Environmental Protection Agency rule to limit emissions. Published August 21, 2012