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.

(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 […]

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: The U.S Capitol Building is prepared for the inaugural ceremonies for President-elect Joe Biden as American flags are placed in the ground on the National Mall on January 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. The approximately 191,500 U.S. flags will cover part of the National Mall and will represent the American people who are unable to travel to Washington, DC for the inauguration. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate control too close to call as multiple states grapple with tight vote counts

By: , and - November 9, 2022

WASHINGTON —  Control of the U.S. Senate remained unclear early Wednesday as races in a handful of swing states in the midterm elections were still too close to call, and it appeared it might be days — or even weeks — before a final result was known. But Democrats flipped the open Pennsylvania Senate seat, […]

The U.S. Capitol. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

No GOP ‘wave,’ but Republicans could still gain control of U.S. House

By: , and - November 9, 2022

WASHINGTON — Republicans fell short of their greatest ambitions for major gains in the U.S. House, with control of the chamber still in doubt early Wednesday.  Republicans are still likely to narrowly win control of the U.S. House, based on expert projections. But of 20 races rated by elections forecaster Inside Elections as true toss-ups, […]

(Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht)

Control of U.S. Senate still a guess ahead of midterm elections

By: - November 2, 2022

WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans have just a handful of frantic days left to convince voters who should control Congress before voting in the Nov. 8 midterm elections ends. The two political parties are spending millions on campaign ads and mailers in the dozens of toss-up races that will determine control of Congress, while President […]

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi arrive for a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street on September 16, 2021 in London, England. The speaker of the United States House of Representatives is in the UK to participate in the G7 Heads of Parliament Conference this week in Chorley, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Man who attacked Speaker Pelosi’s husband wanted to break ‘her kneecaps,’ DOJ says

By: - October 31, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced federal charges against the man who allegedly broke into U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home and attacked her 82-year-old husband with a hammer.  If convicted, David DePape could receive up to 50 years in prison. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s complaint and affidavit […]

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi arrive for a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street on September 16, 2021 in London, England. The speaker of the United States House of Representatives is in the UK to participate in the G7 Heads of Parliament Conference this week in Chorley, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Paul Pelosi, U.S. House speaker’s husband, attacked inside their San Francisco home

By: - October 28, 2022

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was recovering in the hospital Friday morning after a man in his 40s broke into their San Francisco home in the early morning and “violently assaulted” the 82-year-old, according to a statement from spokesman Drew Hammill. Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who has a U.S. […]

The U.S. Capitol. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

The battle for control of Congress: Abortion, inflation, crime and Biden

By: , and - October 10, 2022

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are fanning out to every district in the country, leaving the wonky floor debates on Capitol Hill behind for the campaign trail in advance of the crucial Nov. 8 midterm elections.  Democrats are fighting to hold their razor-thin majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, citing two years of […]

(Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Stopgap spending bill advances in U.S. Senate after Manchin pulls his energy plan

By: - September 28, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate advanced a catchall spending package Tuesday that would provide billions to aid Ukraine’s war effort, help communities throughout the country recover from natural disasters and keep the federal government funded through mid-December.  Democrats and Republicans voted 72-23 to move the measure toward a final vote later this week—a success that […]

Members of Congress participating in a July 19 abortion rights protest between Capitol Hill and the U.S. Supreme Court. (Photo: Jennifer Shutt)

Republicans in Congress say they’d keep federal abortion funding in cases of rape, incest

By: - September 27, 2022

WASHINGTON —  A nearly 50-year-old federal law backed by Republicans allows the use of federal dollars for abortions in cases of rape, incest or the life of the pregnant person. That so-called Hyde Amendment, which is folded into spending bills, is less stringent than new or planned abortion bans in some GOP-led states, where governors […]

The U.S. Capitol. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP outlines agenda in bid for control in the midterms

By: - September 25, 2022

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans gathered inside a warehouse in Southwestern Pennsylvania on Friday to outline the legislation they’d try to enact if voters give them back control of that chamber following the November midterm elections.  Speaking from an HVAC factory in Monongahela, about an hour south of Pittsburgh, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said […]

U.S. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 20, on her legislation to make it a felony to perform gender-affirming care on transgender youth. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt.

Marjorie Taylor Greene leads GOP drive to criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender youth

By: - September 21, 2022

WASHINGTON — Conservative Republicans gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to commit to bringing legislation to the floor that would make it a felony to perform gender-affirming care on transgender youth, should the GOP take control of the U.S. House following the November midterm elections.  “How on earth can this be happening in America? […]

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

U.S. Senate delays same-sex marriage vote until after midterm elections

By: - September 19, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate won’t vote on legislation to secure marriage equality for millions of Americans until after the midterm elections, bipartisan negotiators announced Thursday.  The move follows weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions among five U.S. senators from both political parties who have been drafting an amendment to the House-passed legislation that they hoped would […]