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.

A microscopic image of human patient cells infected by the SARS-CoV2 virus.

Biden signs bill declassifying information on the origin of COVID-19

By: - March 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. director of national intelligence has three months to declassify information on potential links between China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID-19, after President Joe Biden signed legislation Monday. The bill was one of the first Biden has signed since a 118th Congress split between the two parties began […]

U.S. Capitol building

Biden administration details potential cuts in education, food aid and more under GOP plan

By: - March 20, 2023

WASHINGTON — Federal departments and agencies say U.S. House Republicans’ plans to cut federal spending would result in reductions to key programs like food aid, education assistance and wildfire management.  The series of letters from across the federal government released Monday detail exactly how plans to cut at least $130 billion in domestic spending during […]

Marines refuel an MV-22B Osprey at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado

Pentagon to halt use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS as cleanup costs mount

By: and - March 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Battered by years of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and environmental advocates, the Department of Defense will stop purchasing PFAS-containing firefighting foam later this year and phase it out entirely in 2024. The replacement for Aqueous Film Forming Foam has yet to be determined, and advocates are frustrated it’s taken so long to halt […]

Soldiers Return To Fort Carson After Seven-Month Deployment In Iraq

U.S. Senate moves toward repealing authority for military force against Iraq

By: - March 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate took a broadly bipartisan vote Thursday to advance legislation that would end the 32-year-old and the 20-year-old Authorizations for Use of Military Force against Iraq.  The 68-27 vote moves the measure past the chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster and toward a final passage vote as soon as next week. House Republican […]

coronavirus

Congress unanimously votes to require declassified information on COVID-19 origins

By: - March 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — The divided 118th Congress approved its first bill Friday, after lawmakers in the House and Senate voted unanimously to send President Joe Biden legislation that would require declassification of intelligence on the origins of COVID-19. The four-page bill, which the House voted 419-0 to clear, would require the director of National Intelligence to […]

President Joe Biden speaks about his fiscal 2024 budget request

Biden budget asks for 25% tax on billionaires, boosts in domestic and defense spending

By: - March 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Thursday he’s ready to meet with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to hash out federal spending as soon as House Republicans release their budget, a challenging task without a firm deadline.  “I’m ready to meet with the speaker anytime, tomorrow if he has his budget,” Biden said during a […]

health care worker treats a COVID patient

Lawmakers hear theories on COVID-19 origins in U.S. House hearing

By: - March 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans mostly agreed Wednesday that scientists and the intelligence community should fully investigate the origins of COVID-19 without political interference over whether the virus emerged from nature or through a lab leak. Members from both political parties said throughout the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing that determining […]

The front of the U.S. Capitol building

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

By: - March 7, 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 […]

U.S. Treasury Department in D.C.

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 […]

U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, is shown here with his family

Military records for Iowa, Nebraska congressmen incorrectly released by Air Force

By: - February 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force unintentionally released military personnel records of at least two members of Congress — Republican Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Zach Nunn of Iowa — eliciting frustration and concerns for veterans’ privacy.  “The recent targeting of Members of Congress’s personnel military records, the breach of sensitive data, and the […]

President Biden Welcomes Governors From Across The Nation To The White House

Biden’s annual physical shows he is ‘a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male’

By: - February 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden received a mostly positive review of his health from doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Thursday after undergoing his annual physical.  The official evaluation of Biden’s health comes as the former vice president and longtime U.S. senator from Delaware weighs whether to run for reelection in 2024.  […]

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Gives Economic Address At Ford's Rouge Electric Vehicle Center

U.S. likely to default on debt between July and September unless Congress acts, CBO says

By: - February 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress has until at least July to broker a bipartisan debt agreement if lawmakers want to avoid a first-ever default, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  The nonpartisan scorekeeper, which typically details how much legislation would cost, released a report Wednesday saying that U.S. lawmakers and the Biden administration have until sometime between […]