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

a package of NARCAN (Naloxone) nasal spray sits on the counter at a Walgreens pharmacy, Aug. 9, 2017 in New York City. Starting on Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday that no-cost or low cost Naloxone (NARCAN), a drug that can help reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, will be available at all pharmacies across New York state. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

As opioids overdose deaths keep rising, report urges lawmakers to develop new approaches

BY: - March 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corporation report published Thursday. That means they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing and law enforcement, the report advises. The 600-page volume — which […]

A portion of the Duck River in Coffee County. The Tennessee Legislature is considering a measure to protect the Duck, one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the U.S. (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 […]

(Photo: Laura Olivas/Getty Images)

South Dakota congressman advocates expansion of work requirements for federal food aid

BY: - March 15, 2023

Republican South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson introduced a bill Tuesday aimed at expanding work requirements for federal nutrition aid, reigniting a perennial conflict over how Congress navigates both the farm bill and federal spending.  “Work is the best pathway out of poverty,” Johnson, who in his home state has talked about growing up poor, said […]

(Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht)

GOP state officials at U.S. House hearing push back against federal election oversight

BY: - March 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — Republican election officials from Florida, Ohio and Louisiana on Friday detailed to lawmakers on a U.S. House Administration panel the success of their states’ handling of the 2022 midterm elections, and said they can run their own elections without federal intervention. The chair of the Elections Subcommittee, Florida GOP freshman Rep. Laurel Lee, […]

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

GOP bill mandating federal Parents Bill of Rights passed by U.S. House committee

BY: - March 10, 2023

WASHINGTON —- A national “Parents Bill of Rights” is headed for a full U.S. House vote after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce early Thursday approved the measure designed to empower parents to inspect books and other teaching materials in schools. Lawmakers on the committee debated the GOP-backed bill that would federally mandate […]

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 08: Rebekah Bruesehoff, a transgender student athlete, speaks at a press conference on LGBTQI+ rights, at the U.S. Capitol on March 08, 2023 in Washington, DC. Bruesehoff spoke out against the proposed national trans sports ban being considered by Republicans on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

National ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports passed by U.S. House panel

BY: - March 9, 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee early Thursday passed a bill on a party-line vote that would block transgender girls from competing in school sports consistent with their gender identity, a reflection of a broader push in multiple states to curb the rights of transgender student athletes. The bill, H.R. 734, introduced […]

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)

Economist warns that ‘heightened dysfunction’ in Congress raises risk of debt default

BY: - March 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — Economists on Tuesday urged Congress to address the debt limit quickly, cautioning that simply because U.S. lawmakers have successfully brokered deals before doesn’t mean they will be able to this year. “There is a temptation to brush off the developing debt limit drama, thinking it will end the same way as the others […]

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. […]

U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

Biden student debt relief plan met with skepticism from U.S. Supreme Court conservatives

BY: - March 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — The majority conservative wing of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Tuesday that the Biden administration had the authority to implement a federal student debt relief program that was estimated to potentially aid millions of borrowers. The conservative justices, who hold a 6-3 majority on the court, questioned whether the Department of Education […]

The FDA approved mifepristone under the brand-name Mifeprex in 2000, and an abortion-drug regimen that has seen few deaths and a low rate of adverse events in more than two decades of use. Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

How the judge who could ban the abortion pill won confirmation in the U.S. Senate

BY: - March 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. District Court judge who could end more than two decades of legal access to medication abortion underwent extensive questioning about LGBTQ equality at his December 2017 confirmation hearing — and very little about his views on abortion. Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump earlier in 2017, spent much […]

Student loan borrowers gather near The White House to tell President Biden to cancel student debt in Washington, DC. | Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million

Black student loan borrowers at risk as U.S. Supreme Court weighs forgiveness plan

BY: - February 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — As the Biden administration prepares to defend its student debt cancellation program before the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 28, data shows that Black borrowers have the most to lose should a majority conservative court strike down the policy. Black borrowers hold a disproportionate share of student loan debt, and many likely were […]

The U.S. Capitol at night. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt / States Newsroom)

Bipartisan group predicts U.S. debt default as soon as summer, depending on tax receipts

BY: - February 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan think tank expects that the United States will default on its debt in the summer or early fall, if Congress doesn’t take action to address the debt limit before then.  The timeline is similar to one the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released last week, saying lawmakers have until sometime between July […]