Author

Ariana Figueroa

Ariana Figueroa

Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.

Record rent increases, low wages are driving an eviction crisis, U.S. Senate panel told

By: - August 3, 2022

The chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, said that families are being priced out of buying homes, and rising rents mean that tenants are “just one illness or job loss or car repair away from eviction.”

U.S. House Democrats file brief in college affirmative action case

By: - August 3, 2022

The Supreme Court originally combined the two cases that challenged affirmative action, but then separated them — likely because the newest justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, said she would recuse herself from the Harvard case because she previously held a six-year term on Harvard’s board of overseers. Legal experts have said the court's decision could reshape the use of affirmative action in higher education.

A man shoots AR-15 rifles and other weapons at a shooting range during the “Rod of Iron Freedom Festival” on October 12, 2019 in Greeley, Pa. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images).

U.S. House passes ban on assault weapons after spate of gun violence

By: - July 29, 2022

With the 217-213 vote, the bill will head to the evenly divided Senate, but it’s unlikely to advance there.

Democrats in Congress, including Pa., press Biden to extend pause on student loans

By: - July 29, 2022

The Federal Reserve estimates that the total U.S. student loan debt is more than $1.75 trillion.

A man shoots AR-15 rifles and other weapons at a shooting range during the “Rod of Iron Freedom Festival” on October 12, 2019 in Greeley, Pa. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images).

U.S. House panel advances assault weapons ban on party-line vote

By: - July 21, 2022

U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-4th District, slammed Republicans for refusing to address the fact that there are thousands of victims of mass shootings.

Biden tests positive for COVID, cancels Pa. trip

By: , and - July 21, 2022

The Democratic president had been set to visit Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre. Those visits were canceled.

Progressives renew call for U.S. Supreme Court expansion after abortion rights decision

By: - July 19, 2022

A U.S. House bill would expand the court from nine to 13 seats; Speaker Nancy Pelosi has no plans to bring it to a vote.

ABORTION RIGHTS RALLY ART 3

Pregnant patients without access to abortion face a ‘death sentence,’ U.S. House panel told

By: - July 14, 2022

'My abortion was the best decision I ever made, and it was an act of self-love,' Sarah Lopez, of Texas, told lawmakers.

U.S. House panel presses gun makers to testify before Congress

By: - July 7, 2022

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., requested that all three CEOs respond by Friday if they will testify on the hearing set for July 20. 

Biden says he supports filibuster exception for abortion rights legislation

By: - June 30, 2022

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday said he supports an exception to the U.S. Senate filibuster in order to enshrine Roe v. Wade in federal law, after the Supreme Court last week struck down the case that established abortion as a constitutional right. “I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, […]

Congress sends Biden historic gun safety legislation, with GOP support

By: - June 24, 2022

'Let us not judge the legislation for what it does not do, but for what it does,' U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

U.S. Supreme Court expands gun rights in striking down New York concealed carry law

By: - June 23, 2022

“[T]he Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual's right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote.