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.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters in the U.S. Capitol following passage of the GOP debt ceiling and spending cut legislation on April 26, 2023. Ashley Murray/States Newsroom

U.S. House GOP pushes through debt ceiling increase coupled with massive spending cuts

By: and - April 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday struggled but whipped just enough votes to pass their plan to temporarily raise the nation’s borrowing limit and also cut spending by slashing key parts of President Joe Biden’s climate and tax law, potentially risking some veterans’ health benefits and imposing more work rules on the nation’s safety […]

Former Rep. Justin Jones, D-Memphis, concludes his defense prior to the House of Representatives voting to expel him on partisan lines. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Federal judge temporarily blocks new Biden WOTUS rule in two dozen states

By: - April 13, 2023

A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday blocked in 24 states the Biden administration’s newly effective definition of waters that can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland, a George W. Bush appointee on retired status in the North Dakota District, issued a preliminary injunction in a case two […]

Former President Donald Trump dances during his speech Friday at the Faith and Freedom "Road to Majority" conference at Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Convention Center. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury, according to reports

By: - March 31, 2023

WASHINGTON — A New York criminal grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed following news reports.  A former president has never been indicted before. Trump is also a Republican candidate in the 2024 race for the presidency. “This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender […]

Former Rep. Justin Jones, D-Memphis, concludes his defense prior to the House of Representatives voting to expel him on partisan lines. (Photo: John Partipilo)

U.S. House votes to roll back Biden’s WOTUS rule

By: - March 15, 2023

The U.S. House voted last week to undo a Biden administration definition of wetlands that allows for regulations on private lands. The chamber approved, 227-198, a resolution to roll back the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s broader definition of what qualifies as “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, for the purposes of federal regulation under […]

Southwest Air planes parked at Nashville International Airport. (Photo: John Partipilo)

U.S. Senate Democrats back FAA nominee, despite GOP attacks at confirmation hearing

By: - March 2, 2023

(An earlier version of this report misstated the last Senate-confirmed FAA administrator. It was Steve Dickson.) Republicans on a U.S. Senate panel raised several objections Wednesday to President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, while Democrats indicated their support and called the objections “fake scandals” meant only to create a political controversy. […]

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 07: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) listen on February 7, 2023 in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The speech marks Biden's first address to the new Republican-controlled House. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images)

Biden in State of the Union address draws boos and shouts from a combative GOP

By: and - February 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden began his State of the Union address Tuesday — his first to a divided Congress — with an appeal to bipartisan priorities, but later criticized parts of the GOP agenda and got a sense of Republicans’ appetite for conflict during one combative stretch. Biden opened the 72-minute speech with an […]

Southwest Air planes parked at Nashville International Airport. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Aviation turmoil shifts attention to stalled confirmation of FAA chief

By: - January 23, 2023

A breakdown in the federal aviation system earlier this month threw a spotlight on the absence of a Senate-confirmed leader of the Federal Aviation Administration, prompting Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to push for the chamber to confirm President Joe Biden’s choice to lead the agency. But key Senate Republicans have raised concerns about that nominee, […]

The rule would apply to any land owned by the federal government, almost all of which is in 11 Western states and Alaska. In practice, it would likely be pertinent mostly to undeveloped tracts. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker, Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP would make it easier for feds to give public lands away to states

By: - January 17, 2023

U.S. House Republicans included in the new rules for the chamber they passed this month a provision meant to make it easier for Congress to give away public lands. The provision is a fairly technical piece of the 55-page rules package. It affects internal House accounting and requires that anytime Congress were to give any […]

The legislation would only affect sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which stores crude oil to be used in emergencies. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

U.S. House passes legislation barring sales of strategic reserve oil to China

By: - January 13, 2023

U.S. House Republicans wrapped up their first week in the majority Thursday by passing with bipartisan support a bill to prohibit the Energy Department from selling the nation’s stockpile of crude oil to China or affiliated entities. The bill, written by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, would prevent […]

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during an event at the Justice Department on June 15, 2021. Photo by Win McNamee | Getty Images

U.S. attorney general names special counsel for classified docs found in Biden’s garage

By: and - January 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House revealed Thursday morning that more classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president were discovered outside of secure government facilities, this time in the garage at his Wilmington, Delaware home.  The files have since been turned over to the U.S. Justice Department, which opened a special counsel investigation […]

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 6: U.S. President Joe Biden embraces Gladys Sicknick, the mother of late Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, as she accepts a Presidential Citizens Medal on behalf of her late son during a ceremony to mark the two-year anniversary of the January 6th 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol in the East Room of the White House January 6, 2023. Biden awarded 12 Presidential Citizens Medals to police officers who defended the Capitol and state officials who resisted pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Democrats praise U.S. Capitol police and pledge to seek accountability on Jan. 6 anniversary

By: - January 7, 2023

Two years after a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undo Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election, Democrats in Congress on Friday vowed to remember the Capitol police officers who died, hold Trump accountable and prevent similar attacks in the future. Democrats applauded the work of the […]

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 19: Members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol hold its last public meeting in the Canon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 19, 2022 in Washington, DC. The committee is expected to approve its final report and vote on referring charges to the Justice Department. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump fixation on Wisconsin, Ginni Thomas text regrets and more from the Jan. 6 panel

By: - January 4, 2023

In the final weeks of 2022, the Democrat-led U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, attack on the Capitol disclosed thousands of pages of transcripts of interviews the panel’s members and staff conducted with key witnesses. The transcripts were central to a committee report released in December that held Donald Trump responsible for the 2021 […]