Author

Jennifer Shutt

Jennifer Shutt

Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include congressional policy, politics and legal challenges with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing and aid to families.

Nashville's Mario Oranday and Andrew Baumgarten, shared fears the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the case establishing marriage equality. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Marriage equality bill heads to Biden’s desk following bipartisan U.S. House vote

By: - December 9, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill Thursday that would ensure same-sex and interracial couples continue holding many of the rights they have now, should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the cases that established those constitutional protections.   The measure now heads to the desk of President Joe Biden, who plans to […]

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn said President Joe Biden's pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration is overly focused on race. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Congress on track to scrap Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in defense bill

By: - December 7, 2022

WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. military would no longer be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine under a proposal Congress could pass as soon as this week.  The provision eliminating the vaccine mandate is tucked into the massive National Defense Authorization Act, the annual defense policy bill that Congress has passed each year for […]

New Hampshire DNC Committee Member Joanne Dowell is pictured center right. She and Iowa’s committee member cast the lone votes opposing giving South Carolina the first primary. (Courtesy of Jim Demers)

Democrats strip Iowa of first-in-the-nation prize, tap South Carolina for first primary

By: - December 2, 2022

WASHINGTON — Voters in South Carolina would go first in picking Democratic presidential nominees, followed by Nevada, New Hampshire, Georgia and Michigan if their states go along with a proposal a key Democratic National Committee panel approved Friday.  The Rules and Bylaws Committee’s nearly unanimous voice vote proposes moving the Democratic primary’s earliest election date […]

(Photo: Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP to keep earmarks for local projects — with some ‘tweaks’

By: - December 1, 2022

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans voted Wednesday to keep earmarks in place when they take over the chamber in January, a move that solidifies GOP support for the controversial spending practice that was brought back under new guardrails and transparency mechanisms less than two years ago.  Earmarking has become especially important to members of both […]

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 30: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) (C) gets a congratulatory fist-bump as he walks into the U.S. Capitol after he was elected House Democratic leader for the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol on November 30, 2022 in Washington, DC. Jeffries was elected to succeed Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as leader of the Democrats in the chamber next year, making him the first Black person to lead one of the two major parties in either chamber of Congress. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. House Democrats make history electing first Black party leader in Congress

By: - November 30, 2022

WASHINGTON — The three U.S. House Democrats who have led their party through four presidencies and thousands of floor votes formally passed the torch to the next generation Wednesday, when the party gathered behind closed doors to elect its top leaders for the 118th Congress.  House Democrats named Hakeem Jeffries, of New York, as their […]

Supporters of same-sex marriage unfurl a large rainbow pride flag near the U.S. Supreme Court, April 28, 2015, in Washington, D.C. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Same-sex marriage protected under bill passed by U.S. Senate with GOP support

By: - November 29, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate approved legislation Tuesday that would enshrine protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, codifying many of the rights that would disappear if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn those landmark decisions the way it overturned the nationwide right to an abortion this summer.  The 61-36 bipartisan vote sends the bill […]

Thousands of veterans deluge VA with claims for toxic exposure benefits, health care

By: - November 23, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is processing claims at the fastest rate in its history, hoping to avoid a significant backlog as hundreds of thousands of veterans apply for health care and benefits under the landmark toxic exposure law Congress passed earlier this year.  The day after President Joe Biden signed the […]

NOVEMBER 05: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) speak to reporters at the U.S. Capitol building as the House prepares to vote on infrastructure and spending bills, on November 5, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Allison Shelley/Getty Images)

Nancy Pelosi, first woman to serve as speaker of the U.S. House, steps down from leadership

By: - November 17, 2022

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who became the first woman in history to hold the gavel, shepherding landmark bills across four presidencies, announced Thursday she’ll step aside from leadership though she’ll remain in Congress. “With great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” she […]

Mario Oranday and Andrew Baumgarten fear same-sex marriage will be the next right to fall should the Supreme Court strike down Roe v. Wade. Photo: John Partipilo

Bill protecting same-sex marriage gains bipartisan support in U.S. Senate

By: - November 17, 2022

WASHINGTON —  The U.S. Senate cleared a key hurdle to passing a marriage equality bill Wednesday, garnering even more than the 60 senators from both political parties needed to move past a legislative filibuster.  The bill, which could win final passage in the Senate as soon as this week, would ensure same-sex and interracial couples […]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

McConnell re-elected U.S. Senate GOP leader, fending off bid by Florida’s Rick Scott

By: - November 16, 2022

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans overwhelmingly re-elected Mitch McConnell on Wednesday as their leader for the next Congress, though nearly a dozen members backed Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s attempt to usurp McConnell. Scott’s bid, which he launched Tuesday during an hours-long discussion among Senate Republicans about the future of their party amid disappointing results in the […]

U.S. Capitol. Photo by Russ Rohde/Getty Images

Congress heads back to D.C. for a hectic lame-duck session

By: - November 12, 2022

WASHINGTON — Congress returns to Capitol Hill and a lengthy to-do list next week, following a six-week midterm elections break that saw Democrats outperform expectations and Republicans barely inch toward the U.S. House majority. On the agenda are same-sex marriage legislation, a huge defense bill, changes in how presidential electoral votes are counted and more. […]

(Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Which party controls Congress? It could be days or weeks before we know

By: and - November 10, 2022

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Democrats exulted Wednesday in outperforming expectations in the midterm elections, even as vote-counting was still in progress and control of both chambers of Congress remained unknown. The U.S. Senate will go to the winner of two of the last three races where party control is still in doubt in […]