Author

Jacob Fischler

Jacob Fischler

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.

Silhouette of the entrance to the Wounded Knee Massacre Monument in South Dakota at sunrise

U.S. House passes Wounded Knee memorial bill

By: - September 21, 2023

The U.S. House approved by voice vote Wednesday a bill that would help protect land at the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota, where an estimated 350 Lakota were killed by U.S. soldiers. The site is within the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River […]

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama,

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, […]

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, (center) speaks with Idaho Water Resources Board member Al Barker

U.S. Senate panel grapples with how to ensure access to water amid Western drought

By: - September 20, 2023

Decades of drought in the West has made water quality and quantity a major issue requiring government funding and innovation to fix, members of a U.S. Senate panel said Wednesday. Demand for water in growing municipalities is stretching agricultural and tribal communities, while shrinking availability is leading to higher water prices, witnesses told the Senate […]

a protester holds a Trump flag inside the U.S. Capitol Building near the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6, 2021,

Former U.S. Capitol Police chief blames intelligence failures, not Trump, for Jan. 6 attack

By: - September 20, 2023

The FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security failed to share intelligence with the U.S. Capitol Police ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, leaving the Capitol Police under-prepared for that day’s violence, the former chief of the Capitol Police told a U.S. House panel chaired by Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk on Tuesday. But Democrats […]

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference

Battles over spending, farm bill, Ukraine and yet more loom over a divided Congress 

By: , , and - September 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House and Senate were back in D.C. on Tuesday following a long summer recess, facing an overwhelming agenda of unfinished work — funding the federal government and reauthorizing major programs set to expire at the end of the month. Congressional leaders and President Joe Biden have only a few weeks to […]

American Airlines plane takes off from Los Angeles International Airport

Biden to nominate former FAA deputy to lead aviation agency

By: - September 7, 2023

President Joe Biden chose a new nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday, months after the U.S. Senate blocked his first choice. Biden intends to nominate Michael G. Whitaker, an executive at Supernal, a company working on an electric air vehicle, and a former deputy FAA administrator during President Barack Obama’s administration, according […]

A Lesser Golden Plover sits in a section of wetland in Barrow, Alaska

New federal water pollution rule draws mixed reaction

By: - August 30, 2023

A federal rule limiting agencies’ power to regulate water pollution will severely restrict protections for waters and wetlands throughout the country, but it could also be subject to challenges from conservative groups that maintain the new rule exerts more federal jurisdiction than the U.S. Supreme Court intended in a May decision. The rule published Tuesday […]

United Auto Workers members rally for a new contract at the labor organization’s Region 1 headquarters

Labor leader Shuler touts union support as possible auto strikes loom

By: - August 29, 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 […]

‘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 […]

Coho salmon are released from a hatchery.

Biden administration proposes $106 million for Western salmon and steelhead recovery 

By: - August 17, 2023

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is recommending sending $106 million to 16 salmon and steelhead recovery efforts in five Western states, the federal agency said Thursday. NOAA and the Department of Commerce recommended grants to state agencies with salmon protection missions, tribes and tribal partnerships in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California. The funding […]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump

Updated: The Trump indictments: a seven-year timeline of key developments

By: - August 9, 2023

Former President Donald Trump is a defendant in four criminal proceedings. Two cases are federal, brought after investigations by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought the first indictment against Trump, charging him in New York state court. The most recent prosecution, in Georgia state court, is being led by Fulton County […]

Former President Trump Attends Arraignment In Washington, D.C. Federal Court After His Indictment

Trump pleads not guilty to charges he sought to subvert 2020 election

By: and - August 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony charges Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., after a federal grand jury handed up an indictment against the former chief executive. Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, was released under the conditions that he must not violate federal, […]