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.

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

By: , , and - September 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House and Senate are both 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 […]

New federal water pollution rule draws mixed reaction

By: - September 3, 2023

A federal rule limiting agencies’ power to regulate water pollution will severely restrict protections for waters and wetlands throughout the country, but 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. With the rule published last […]

Labor leader Shuler touts union support as possible auto strikes loom

By: - August 29, 2023

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 lines. The AFL-CIO commissioned a poll by GBAO, a Democratic polling and research firm, that found 91% of Democratic respondents and 52% of Republicans approved of unions, with even higher numbers supporting the right to strike.

‘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 […]

Trump absent but still dominates as GOP presidential rivals clash at first debate

By: , and - August 23, 2023

Eight Republican presidential candidates gathered onstage Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a heated first primary debate heavily influenced by former President Donald Trump, though the party’s front runner refused to attend the two-hour event. Trump instead recorded a competing 46-minute interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson that aired on X, formerly known […]

‘The internet is no longer a luxury’: $667M from USDA for rural broadband

By: - August 21, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend another $667 million on rural broadband loans and grants, the department said Monday, marking the fourth round of Biden administration funding under a program that the 2021 infrastructure law invigorated. Nearly three-quarters of the funding, $493 million, will go toward grants, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on a […]

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

By: - August 16, 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 […]

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

By: and - August 3, 2023

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony charges Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

How fake electors in Pennsylvania and six other states are central to the Trump Jan. 6 indictment

By: and - August 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — The federal indictment accusing Donald Trump of trying to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election includes detailed accusations of Trump and his alleged co-conspirators’ pressure on individual state officials. The central plot to overturn the election, as described in the indictment a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., handed up […]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he makes a visit to the Cuban restaurant Versailles after he appeared for his arraignment on June 13, 2023, in Miami. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges including possession of national security documents after leaving office, obstruction, and making false statements. (Photo by Alon Skuy/Getty Images)

‘Fueled by lies,’ Trump charged with seeking to overturn 2020 election

By: , and - August 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Donald Trump on Tuesday, alleging that Trump and co-conspirators attempted to subvert the 2020 election to keep the former president in power through a series of illegal actions that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The former president faces four […]

As extreme heat sweeps the U.S., Biden warns that states must act to protect workers

By: - July 28, 2023

With many parts of the country gripped by extreme heat, President Joe Biden said Thursday his administration would target states that don’t offer workers heat protections and would direct millions of dollars to water projects and improved weather forecasting. In a live address, with the mayors of Phoenix and San Antonio joining by video, Biden […]

New charges for Trump in classified documents case involve video evidence

By: - July 27, 2023

A federal grand jury added three felony charges against Donald Trump on Thursday in the case alleging the former president took classified materials from the White House after his term ended. Trump directed employees to destroy video evidence that could aid the prosecution in the criminal case, according to a 60-page superseding indictment filed Thursday […]