DC BUREAU
Our Washington, D.C., bureau reports on congressional delegations and key Supreme Court and administrative decisions that affect our state.
STAFF
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 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 covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.
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 covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.
STORIES
Feds try to ease vaccine backlog by enlisting retired nurses and doctors
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced a move Wednesday to bolster the number of people who can administer COVID-19 vaccines by making it easier for retired doctors and nurses to give those shots. The federal government also will allow current doctors and nurses to administer vaccines in states other than where they are licensed. The […]
Biden to pause new oil and gas leases on public lands in sweeping climate order
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to sign a host of executive orders on climate Wednesday that will put a hold on new oil and gas leases on federal property, place environmental justice in the center of climate reform and set goals of conserving nearly a third of the nation’s land and water. On […]
Biden administration unveils boost to state COVID-19 vaccine shipments
WASHINGTON — Amid frustrations at the slow pace of the national COVID-19 vaccination effort, President Joe Biden says his administration is boosting the number of doses sent to states each week and will be giving state officials more certainty on the number of doses they can expect in future shipments. Starting next week, a minimum […]
Hawley pushes ethics probe of U.S. Senate Democrats who filed complaint against him
WASHINGTON — Seven U.S. Senate Democrats urged the chamber’s ethics panel to investigate Sen. Josh Hawley’s role in the pro-Trump assault on the Capitol, and the Missouri Republican is now asking the committee to do the same. In a Monday letter, Hawley argued that the seven Democrats filed an improper complaint last week against him […]
Biden orders tougher mask rules as part of overhauled COVID-19 strategy
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s first policy focus after being sworn in? Overhauling the disjointed federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed another 4,400 American lives on his first day in office alone. “The brutal truth is, it’s going to take months before we can get the majority of Americans vaccinated,” Biden said Thursday. […]
Biden immigration overhaul would open a door to citizenship for 11 million people
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is poised to send a sweeping immigration reform bill to Congress Thursday that would lay out a path for nearly 11 million undocumented people to obtain citizenship within eight years. Immigration has been one of the toughest issues for Congress to tackle, and the legislation’s fate is unclear in a […]
President Biden urges a divided nation to ‘end this uncivil war’ in inaugural address
WASHINGTON — Calling on Americans to bridge the widening divisions in the country, Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, completing the peaceful transition of presidential power on the same stage where a violent mob just two weeks ago sought to prevent him from taking office. Standing before an unusually […]
Biden takes the oath of office with troops on guard and towering challenges ahead
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden is set to become the 46th president of the United States at noon, when he will take the oath of office while standing on the same platform where insurrectionists swarmed just two weeks ago as they sought to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. That violent mob of rioters damaged the […]
Here’s what Biden plans to do on his first day as president
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden early Wednesday unveiled the list of executive orders, memos and directives he will make when he assumes the presidency later in the day, reversing a slew of Trump administration actions and laying out new policies of his own. “These actions are bold, begin the work of following through on President-elect Biden’s […]
Colorado sues BLM over resource management plan, citing Montana case
Colorado has challenged a federal Bureau of Land Management plan for the southwestern part of the state, arguing the plan was invalid because the Trump administration leader of the agency was illegally holding the office. The state’s Department of Natural Resources filed the suit in federal court on Friday, seeking to overturn a resource management […]
Biden pledges massive vaccine uptick as states struggle with confusion over dosage numbers
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden on Friday sketched out his proposal for overhauling the country’s slow and uneven effort to vaccinate Americans against COVID-19, pledging to open more centers for administering those shots, boost the public health workforce, and improve the information flow to states so they can better plan. Biden has called for administering […]
More than 21,000 Guard members from 50 states headed to D.C., and numbers may grow
WASHINGTON — Wednesday’s presidential inauguration ceremony may have a scaled-down audience due to the pandemic, but the security presence on hand to ensure it goes smoothly will be supersized. At least 21,000 National Guard men and women — from all 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia — will provide security support for […]