Author

Jennifer Shutt

Jennifer Shutt

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.

Abortion Pill

Biden administration appeals judge’s ruling ordering abortion pill off U.S. market

By: - April 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice launched an appeals process Friday that will likely put a landmark decision about access to medication abortion in front of the Supreme Court.  The notice of appeal was filed less than three hours after a federal judge in Texas revoked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval […]

U.S. President Joe Biden

Biden after Texas ruling vows he will fight to ensure access to abortion pill

By: - April 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden pledged to defend access to medication abortion and the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to approve pharmaceuticals after a federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled the abortion pill should be pulled from the market.  Biden also keyed in on the 2024 elections in his response, saying “the only way […]

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-New York,

Democratic leaders warn abortion pill ruling could endanger other FDA-approved drugs

By: - April 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democratic leaders vowed to defend reproductive rights and abortion access Saturday, less than a day after a federal judge in Texas ruled the federal government needs to pull the abortion pill off the market within a week.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the […]

IRS tax forms

IRS slated to hire thousands of workers, boost audits of wealthy taxpayers

By: - April 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service on Thursday detailed its plan to spend $80 billion in additional funding that Democrats approved last year as part of their climate change and health care package.  The plan says the agency will boost tax enforcement by increasing its “focus on segments of taxpayers with complex issues and complex […]

The front of the U.S. Capitol building

As future of abortion pill is weighed, Democrats in Congress see little they can do

By: - April 5, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats appear lukewarm about pursuing reproductive rights legislation in a divided Congress, even as a federal judge in Texas considers overturning access to abortion pills nationwide. Interviews by States Newsroom with Democrats who control the Senate by a narrow margin found little optimism they could counter a ruling that could potentially […]

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

Trump hit with 34 felony counts of falsifying New York state business records

By: , and - April 4, 2023

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 New York state felony offenses related to what prosecutors say were hush money payments to an adult film star. In a brief but historic appearance in a Manhattan trial court, Trump, the first former president to face criminal prosecution, learned he was charged with falsifying […]

USA social security card with medicare and US dollars to illustrate budget crisis

Social Security trustees predict benefit cuts in 2033 without congressional action

By: - March 31, 2023

WASHINGTON — Social Security will no longer be able to pay full benefits in 2033, a year earlier than previously expected, according to a report released Friday.  The updated projections, in the annual trustee report, mean that without action to stabilize the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, Social Security would have enough money to […]

Health Insurance Form

U.S. judge rules insurers don’t have to cover many free preventive health services

By: , and - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies may no longer need to cover a wide swath of preventive health care services that were required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, under a federal judge’s ruling issued Thursday in Texas. The decision could affect millions of Americans’ access to no-cost preventive health care — including pregnancy-related care, cancer […]

U.S. President George W. Bush holds a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki

U.S. Senate in bipartisan vote repeals decades-old Iraq war authorizations

By: - March 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators revoked their approval for the Gulf and Iraq wars on Wednesday, taking a broadly bipartisan vote to repeal the Authorizations for Use of Military Force that have stayed on the books years after the two wars ended.  The 66-30 vote sends the measure to the U.S. House, where Speaker Kevin McCarthy […]

baby formula missing from shelves

Infant formula crisis could recur, former FDA official tells Congress

By: - March 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday debated if enough has changed to prevent a repeat of the infant formula shortage, more than a year after a nationwide crisis began.  The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services heard from two experts that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration […]

Bipartisan former members of Congress call for boost in funding to secure elections

By: - March 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of former U.S. lawmakers on the National Council on Election Integrity called on Congress on Friday to spend $400 million to insulate the system from foreign interference.  “The Department of Homeland Security designated our election system as critical infrastructure in 2017,” the four wrote in a letter. “However, that designation […]

Dave Lacknauth, director of Pharmacy Services at Broward Health Medical Center shows off a bottle of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a press conference on Dec. 23, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Moderna plan to hike COVID vaccine price to $130 a dose rebuked at U.S. Senate hearing

By: - March 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — The CEO of Moderna on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to drastically increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine later this year, arguing that an expected drop in demand, changes to its distribution process and the overall benefit of the vaccine warrant the higher cost.  That decision was met with bipartisan condemnation from […]