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.

A pro-Trump mob breaks into the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. A group of Republican senators said they would reject the Electoral College votes of several states unless Congress appointed a commission to audit the election results. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

U.S. House Jan. 6 Committee subpoenas 5 GOP members who declined to testify

By: - May 12, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol subpoenaed five Republican House members Thursday who the panel believes have knowledge of the events leading up to the attack, including communication with then-President Donald Trump. The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol […]

President Joe Biden talks on the phone with Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) following the Senate vote to pass the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, Aug. 10, 2021, in the Oval Office Dining Room of the White House. (Adam Schultz/Official White House Photo)

Biden administration vows to speed up environmental permits needed for infrastructure projects

By: - May 11, 2022

President Joe Biden’s administration will seek to hasten construction of roads, bridges, wind farms and more by tweaking the federal review process for environmental and other permits, administration officials said Tuesday. On a press call, administration officials said they were seeking to make permitting easier without sacrificing environmental standards. The new permitting plan includes five […]

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 06: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) (C) walks through the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol for a meeting at the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on August 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)

Vote on abortion rights planned in U.S. Senate next week, but likely will fall short

By: - May 5, 2022

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will force a vote next week on a bill to codify abortion protections, following the disclosure that the Supreme Court could be ready to overturn a landmark abortion rights ruling, he and other Senate Democrats announced Thursday.  The effort appears largely symbolic. Democrats are well short of the 60 […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (Photo: Screenshot from Senate Judiciary Committee livestream.)

Jackson wins 3 GOP votes as U.S. Senate advances her Supreme Court nomination

By: - April 4, 2022

The U.S. Senate advanced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic Supreme Court nomination in a 53-47 procedural vote Monday evening, hours after the Judiciary Committee deadlocked along party lines. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah voted with all 50 Senate Democrats on the procedural vote Monday. The […]

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sits with his wife and conservative activist Virginia Thomas while he waits to speak at the Heritage Foundation on October 21, 2021, in Washington, DC. The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and its subcommittees held hearings this year after revelations about Thomas’ luxury travel and real estate transactions with a GOP donor. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas pressed to recuse himself from Jan. 6 cases

By: - March 29, 2022

Two dozen congressional Democrats are calling for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, following revelations his wife communicated with the Trump White House about overturning the election. In addition, it appears likely that the U.S. House committee probing the attack will […]

U.S. Senate panel bickers over Supreme Court nomination but sets vote next week

By: - March 28, 2022

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reopened partisan disagreements Monday as members scheduled a vote for April 4 on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans’ criticisms of Jackson’s record and responses were either untrue or disingenuous. Meanwhile, ranking Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa again raised process concerns. Jackson […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (Photo: Screenshot from Senate Judiciary Committee livestream.)

What senators asked Ketanji Brown Jackson on the third day of U.S. Supreme Court hearings

By: - March 24, 2022

WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee picked up Wednesday morning where they left off Tuesday evening in questioning Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson about her judicial philosophy, sentencing practices and personal background.  Two senators, Democrat Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who did not question […]

Ketanji Brown Jackson would make history as the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images

Ketanji Brown Jackson defends her record under grilling from U.S. Senate Republicans

By: - March 22, 2022

WASHINGTON – Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday sharpened their criticisms of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, probing her work as a public defender on behalf of terrorism suspects, the judicial sentences she has handed down for child pornography offenses and her views of critical race theory. Jackson defended her record […]

Ketanji Brown Jackson would make history as the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images

Here’s what senators said on the first day of the U.S. Supreme Court hearings

By: and - March 22, 2022

WASHINGTON — The 22 members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee each had 10 minutes on Monday to make opening statements about the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Here’s what some had to say: TENNESSEE Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, appeared among the least likely to […]

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the U.S. Congress by video to plead for support as his country is besieged by Russian forces at the U.S. Capitol on March 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. Zelenskyy addressed Congress as Ukraine continues to defend itself from an ongoing Russian invasion. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite-Pool/Getty Images)

Zelenskyy reminds Congress of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 in pleading for U.S. help for Ukraine

By: and - March 16, 2022

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday invoked the Pearl Harbor attacks ahead of World War II and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, while urging the United States to do more to stop the Russian war against his country.  During the speech, delivered virtually to members of Congress in an auditorium on Capitol Hill, Zelenskyy […]

A pro-Trump mob breaks into the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. A group of Republican senators said they would reject the Electoral College votes of several states unless Congress appointed a commission to audit the election results. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

A year after Jan. 6, attack on the U.S. Capitol lives on in hundreds of court cases

By: - March 5, 2022

h the Kansas City chapter of the right-wing Proud Boys gathered on the west side of the U.S. Capitol, along with thousands of others urged on by then-President Donald Trump. The crowd pushed ahead and overwhelmed the few Capitol Police officers guarding the entrance, toppling waist-high metal barriers and pressing into another police barrier closer […]

President Joe Biden: "The right to choose is fundamental." (Courtesy of The White House)

New U.S. sanctions on Russia target banks, high-tech imports

By: and - February 24, 2022

WASHINGTON — The United States and Western allies stepped up economic sanctions on Russia following its escalated attack on Ukraine, President Joe Biden said at the White House on Thursday. Biden had for weeks pledged to impose significant sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin followed through on plans to invade Ukraine. As the invasion […]