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.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri,

TikTok ban for federal workers close to becoming law, following flurry of state bans

By: - December 21, 2022

A ban on federal employees using TikTok on their government-issued phones is on track to become law after Congress included the provision in the year-end government funding bill released early Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s legislation barring the popular social media platform from federal devices was one of several bills attached to the spending measure, […]

January 6th Committee Holds First Hearing Since July

U.S. House Jan. 6 panel refers Trump for criminal charges, including inciting insurrection

By: - December 19, 2022

The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in a historic vote agreed unanimously Monday to refer former President Donald Trump and others to the Justice Department for potential criminal charges, including inciting or aiding an insurrection. Trump associates, including attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro and White House Chief […]

U.S. Senate votes to bar TikTok from government devices as state bans multiply

By: - December 16, 2022

The U.S. Senate late Wednesday unanimously passed a bill to ban federal employees from downloading TikTok on their work phones. Critics of TikTok, a widely popular social media platform, say the app creates national security concerns because of its ability to track users’ data — and because the Chinese government can compel that data from […]

Argonaut Wharf near Campbell River

Tribes seek U.S. help to curb Canadian mining threats to Northwestern states

By: - December 9, 2022

Indigenous leaders from the Northwest renewed their call this week for the federal government to pressure Canada to stop additional mining activity in British Columbia, which they say contaminates waters and threatens Native American ways of life in Alaska, Montana and Idaho. As British Columbia plans to expand its profitable coal, copper and gold mining […]

Marijuana Cultivation Center In Nevada Ramps Up Production As State Legalizes Recreation Use Of Weed

Attempt to help states ease banking for marijuana businesses stumbles in Congress

By: - December 7, 2022

The annual Defense Department policy bill members of Congress released late Tuesday did not include measures to loosen federal marijuana restrictions, to the disappointment of advocates. That leaves few avenues to pass marijuana measures seen as boons to states where the drug is legal before Congress adjourns for the year. As one of the last […]

CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried

Despite FTX fallout, some U.S. House members still skeptical about crypto regulation

By: - December 5, 2022

Nearly nine months after a bipartisan group of U.S. House members sent a letter questioning the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into cryptocurrencies, including the failed FTX exchange, the lawmakers are maintaining their position that the agency’s approach to regulating crypto is deeply flawed. In public comments since FTX’s collapse last month, the congressmen, led […]

Labor Activists Rally Outside The U.S. Capitol Building In Support Of Rail Unions

U.S. House votes to avert calamitous rail strike, but Senate prospects murky

By: - November 30, 2022

The U.S. House moved Wednesday to avoid an economically disastrous nationwide rail strike, voting to codify an agreement that members of some unions had already rejected and separately add paid sick leave that workers had demanded. The two-track approach allows Democrats to avert a strike that could cost the U.S. economy up to $2 billion […]

Sen. Joe Manchin

Little appetite for Manchin permitting bill in congressional lame-duck session

By: - November 28, 2022

Among the items on Congress’ lengthy to-do list by the end of the year is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposal to speed up the federal government’s permitting process that certifies energy projects do not harm the environment. But the bill, which was a condition of the centrist West Virginia Democrat’s support for his party’s larger […]

The front of the U.S. Capitol building

Republicans win control of the U.S. House with 218th seat

By: - November 16, 2022

Republicans clinched a majority in the U.S. House on Wednesday night after a Republican won reelection to a California seat that put the GOP over the top, according to Associated Press projections. Though not as decisive a victory as GOP leaders had hoped, Republican candidates flipped key seats in New York, Virginia, Oregon and Arizona […]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump Makes An Announcement At His Florida Home

Trump announces a third bid for the presidency, even as GOP reels from midterm setback

By: - November 15, 2022

Former President Donald Trump, whose lies about his reelection loss in 2020 precipitated an insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Tuesday he will make another run for the White House in 2024. His announcement came only a week after a disappointing showing by Republicans — especially those who endorsed his false claims about 2020 […]

Kelli Ward

U.S. Supreme Court denies attempt by Arizona GOP chair to block Jan. 6 panel subpoena

By: - November 14, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court sided Monday with the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, denying a request from Arizona Republican Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband to block the panel from obtaining their cellphone records. The court’s two-paragraph order ends Kelli and Michael Ward’s federal suit to block the […]

Democrats projected to retain U.S. Senate control after winning Nevada seat

By: - November 12, 2022

Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada will win reelection, according to Associated Press projections late Saturday, ensuring Democrats will remain in the majority next year no matter what happens in a runoff election in Georgia next month.  After days of vote counting, U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Cortez Masto were both […]