CULPEPER, Va. — Abigail Spanberger talked about rural broadband. She held court on health care, solar energy and the border crisis.
But as the freshman Democrat from Virginia fielded a dozen questions during a recent town hall in Culpeper, she never once took on President Donald Trump directly — not even when the topic turned, fleetingly, to impeachment.
“We are making every decision, whichever way it goes, based on facts and evidence and our duty to uphold the Constitution,” she said.
This is a story about a different kind of squad.
Spanberger is part of a group of first-term female representatives with national security backgrounds who flipped Republican seats last year and matter most on questions of impeachment and Democratic control. The alterna-squad consists of Reps. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Virginians Spanberger and Elaine Luria — women possessing deep military and intelligence experience, now voices of moderation in a party often portrayed as veering sharply left.