DC BUREAU

Our Washington, D.C., bureau reports on congressional delegations and key Supreme Court and administrative decisions that affect our state.

STAFF

Jane Norman

DC Bureau Chief

Jane directs national coverage, managing staff and freelance reporters in the nation’s capital and assigning and editing state-specific daily and enterprise stories.

Jacob Fischler

DC Bureau Senior Reporter

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.

Ashley Murray

DC Bureau Senior Reporter

Ashley Murray covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.

Jennifer Shutt

DC Bureau Senior Reporter

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.

Ariana Figueroa

DC Bureau Reporter

Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.

STORIES

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, speaks during a hearing before Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 28, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate confirms a military nominee, the first since Tuberville blockade began

BY: - September 21, 2023

The U.S. Senate confirmed a nominee for a high-ranking military post Wednesday night and advanced another, the first votes on military nominations or promotions since Alabama Republican Tommy Tuberville started blocking them seven months ago to protest Defense Department abortion policies. Tuberville did not object to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, […]

Tennessee State University President Glenda Glover and Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris smile at each other during TSU's commencement in May 2022. (Photo: John Partipilo)

States urged by Biden administration to rectify underfunding of land-grant HBCUs 

BY: - September 19, 2023

States engaged in decades of underfunding of land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities, leading to a more than $12 billion disparity with comparable white institutions, leaders of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday. “Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities […]

CAPTION: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 14, 2023, as action in the chamber on spending bills got sidetracked ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

With two weeks until the money runs out, Congress grinds to halt on spending bills 

BY: - September 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Amid rising tensions and an approaching hard deadline, the U.S. House and Senate ended their work week on Thursday without a deal to fund the federal government past the end of the month. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has been struggling to build consensus among the members of his Republican Conference, pledged that […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in the U.S. Capitol. (Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)

U.S. House Speaker McCarthy tells committees to launch Biden impeachment probe   

BY: - September 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced that he has directed several House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into unproven GOP allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s business dealings when he was vice president in the Obama administration. “These allegations paint a picture, a picture of corruption,” […]

(Getty Images)

Congress and nonprofit working to put women’s suffrage monument on National Mall

BY: - September 7, 2023

As Congress considers a bill to place a women’s suffrage monument on the National Mall, a nonprofit is working to raise the estimated $50 million needed to build it. The Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation, the nonprofit backing the effort, launched a donation campaign Tuesday in an effort to raise funds for a memorial honoring […]

(Getty Images)

Millions enrolled in new student loan repayment program

BY: - September 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — More than 4 million federal student loan borrowers are enrolled in the Biden administration’s new repayment program, according to figures released Tuesday by the Department of Education. With the pause of more than three years on federal student loan repayments coming to an end in October, and the Supreme Court’s summer decision to […]

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Gun law raises funding concerns for school hunting programs

BY: - September 5, 2023

WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers are concerned that the Biden administration is interpreting last year’s bipartisan gun safety law to cut funding for school archery and hunting programs, though programs themselves say they haven’t been affected. A provision in the law – a bipartisan effort to curb gun violence that established new criminal offenses, and expanded background […]

The Declaration of Independence. (Photo: Getty Images)

Americans are worried about democracy. You wouldn’t know it from the GOP debate.

BY: - August 31, 2023

There’s a growing feeling, among both experts and ordinary Americans, that our democracy isn’t functioning well — and even that it’s under threat. “American democracy is cracking,” the Washington Post reported August 18. “I’m terrified,” one democracy expert told the paper. “I think we are in bad shape, and I don’t know a way out.” […]

UAW members rally for a new contract at the labor organization’s Region 1 headquarters on Aug. 20, 2023. | UAW photo.

Labor leader Shuler touts union support as possible auto strikes loom

BY: - August 30, 2023

Support for unions is growing amid shifting working conditions and labor disputes around the country, according to Liz Shuler, the president of the largest labor group in the country. In Shuler’s comments Tuesday at the AFL-CIO’s first State of the Unions event in Washington, she cited polling that showed support for unions cut across party […]

(Screenshot via the White House)

‘Hate will not prevail in America’: Biden marks 60 years since March on Washington

BY: - August 28, 2023

The U.S. still hasn’t met the goals of the Civil Rights Movement, President Joe Biden said Monday, the 60th anniversary of one of the movement’s most iconic events. Six decades to the day after the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, Biden urged Americans not […]

A vaccination clinic at Casa Azafran in Nashville, March 28, 2021. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Updated COVID-19 vaccines expected to be available in September, federal officials say

BY: - August 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is gearing up for a fall vaccination campaign that not only includes updated COVID-19 boosters, but the annual flu shot and the newly approved RSV vaccine. “We’re going to be encouraging Americans to get their COVID-19 vaccine in addition to their annual flu shot, as well as the immunizations for […]

CAPTION: Republican presidential candidates (L-R), former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum participate in the first debate of the GOP primary season hosted by FOX News at the Fiserv Forum on August 23, 2023 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump absent but still dominates as GOP presidential rivals clash at first debate

BY: , and - August 23, 2023

Eight Republican presidential candidates gathered onstage Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a heated first primary debate heavily influenced by former President Donald Trump, though the party’s front runner refused to attend the two-hour event. Trump instead recorded a competing 46-minute interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson that aired on X, formerly known […]