Author

Jacob Fischler

Jacob Fischler

Jacob covers federal policy as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

KYIV, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 25: A residential building damaged by a missile on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yesterday, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with Russian troops invading the country from the north, east and south, accompanied by air strikes and shelling. The Ukrainian president said that at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by the end of the first day. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

White House requests $47 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine, vaccines and more

By: - September 4, 2022

The Biden administration is asking Congress for emergency funding to support Ukraine’s military, national COVID and monkeypox responses and to help communities affected by natural disasters. The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30 and Congress has not passed a funding measure for next year, so a short-term bill would be needed to keep the government […]

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., joined Congressional Republicans in lining up behind former President Donald Trump after federal agents search Trump's Florida home. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Republicans in Congress line up behind Trump after he says FBI searched Mar-a-Lago

By: - August 10, 2022

Republicans in Congress fumed Tuesday in reaction to former President Donald Trump’s Monday evening statement that the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Democrats had little to say Tuesday about the apparent search, though some defended the execution of justice regardless of a person’s political power. The massive […]

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), gives the thumbs up as he leaves the Senate chamber after passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on Sunday. Getty Images photo by Drew Angerer.

U.S. Senate passes major health, tax and climate bill in boost for Democrats

By: and - August 7, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate, along party lines, passed a sweeping energy, health care, climate and tax package Sunday afternoon, following an overnight marathon of votes that resulted in just a handful of notable changes to the legislation. The 755-page bill was passed after Vice President Kamala Harris broke a 50-50 tie in the evenly […]

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: Brielle Robinson, daughter of the late Army Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson, joins veterans advocacy groups, activists, politicians and fellow victims' families during a news conference about military burn pits legislation outside the U.S. Capitol on March 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. The legislation, called the SFC Heath Robinson Burn Pit Transparency Act passed the House of Representatives and is aimed at addressing issues impacting toxic-exposed veterans’ access to earned benefits and care. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate in turnaround backs aid for veterans exposed to burn pits

By: and - August 3, 2022

WASHINGTON —  The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed bipartisan legislation that would provide health care and benefits to millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances while deployed overseas, after many Republicans switched their votes and decided to once again back the legislation. The shift came after days of protest and vigils outside the U.S. Capitol, […]

Metro Nashville motorcycle police photographed on Oct. 22, 2020 at the Belmont University Presidential Debate. (Photo: Metro Nashville Police)

‘Defund the police’ slogan and anti-cop violence debated at U.S. Senate hearing

By: - July 27, 2022

Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and law enforcement witnesses at a Tuesday hearing blamed recent violence against officers on anti-police rhetoric, while Democrats distanced themselves from the “defund the police” slogan and said an oversupply of guns made law enforcement jobs more dangerous. Republicans on the panel raised complaints about general attitudes toward […]

Former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger (L) and Sarah Matthews (R), former deputy White House press secretary, are sworn in before testifying to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on July 21, 2022. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. Photo by Win McNamee | Getty Images

Trump ‘chose not to act’ as U.S. Capitol underwent attack, Jan. 6 panel says

By: - July 21, 2022

Donald Trump ignored White House staff, family members and outside advisers who urged the president to call off the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to testimony before the U.S. House panel investigating the insurrection at its eighth and final hearing of the summer Thursday night. Instead, Trump sat in the […]

The actions fall far short of calls from many congressional Democrats to take more aggressive actions to address the climate crisis. (Getty Images)

Biden lays out new funds for localities on climate, but no national emergency yet

By: - July 21, 2022

With U.S. Senate negotiations over climate funding stalled, President Joe Biden on Wednesday directed additional spending to help states and cities manage climate disasters — resisting calls from many congressional Democrats to take more aggressive executive action like a declaration of a national climate emergency. Biden also announced steps executive agencies are taking to expand […]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears on a video screen above members of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol during the seventh hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on July 12, 2022. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images)

Trump tweet invited ‘wild’ mob to block transfer of power on Jan. 6, House panel say

By: - July 13, 2022

 The U.S. House panel investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results described Tuesday how the president explicitly called on his supporters to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 for a “wild” protest — resulting in an insurrection.  Trump exerted extraordinary influence over the mob, who marched to the Capitol on […]

The White House confirmed Thursday that President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19.(Drew Angerer/Getty Image)

Democratic governors call on Biden to use federal facilities for abortion access

By: - July 4, 2022

A group of Democratic governors urged President Joe Biden on Friday to use federal facilities to provide access to abortions, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24. In a video conference with nine governors, including Kate Brown of Oregon, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New […]

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., administers the Constitutional Oath to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in the West Conference Room, Supreme Court Building. Dr. Patrick Jackson holds the Bible. Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Photo: Getty Images)

History made: Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as U.S. Supreme Court justice

By: - July 1, 2022

Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court after she was sworn in Thursday by Chief Justice John Roberts and her mentor, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer — whose retirement was official moments earlier. The swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court making Jackson’s place in history official took barely three […]

U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

U.S. Supreme Court curbs federal power to regulate greenhouse gases, in blow to Biden

By: - June 30, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants, siding with a group of Republican attorneys general and coal companies in a major blow to the executive branch’s power to curb climate change. The opinion was a victory for the Republican-led states that […]

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 24: People protest in response to the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Court's decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case and erases a federal right to an abortion. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate Democrats urge ‘bold action’ by Biden on abortion rights

By: - June 28, 2022

 Most of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate have signed on to a letter to President Joe Biden pressing him to “take immediate action” to protect abortion rights, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Friday ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.  The one-page letter, led by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray of Washington […]