Author

Ashley Murray

Ashley Murray

Ashley Murray covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Schumer levels heavy criticism at Israel on U.S. Senate floor, calls for elections there

By: - March 14, 2024

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged an overhaul of both Israeli and Palestinian Authority leadership and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has lost his way,” in strong and lengthy comments delivered on the U.S. Senate floor Thursday morning. The New York Democrat — the highest-ranking Jewish member in Congress — called for […]

U.S. House votes to ban TikTok unless it is sold by China-controlled parent

By: - March 13, 2024

WASHINGTON — Citing major national security concerns, the U.S. House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that effectively bans TikTok unless the company splits from its Chinese owner ByteDance. The 352-65 vote occurred just a week after lawmakers introduced the bipartisan proposal and days after the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce unanimously advanced […]

Business owners, union leader urge U.S. Senate to move ahead soon on stalled tax package

By: - March 12, 2024

WASHINGTON — Business owners, CEOs and a steelworkers’ union official urged lawmakers Tuesday to quickly pass a tax policy bill that has been stalled in the U.S. Senate since the end of January. The witnesses invited to testify on manufacturing taxation before the Senate Committee on Finance told the panel that the proposal, which includes […]

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa bids for No. 3 GOP leadership post against Tom Cotton

By: - March 11, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa will face Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas in the race to become the next Senate Republican Conference chair, her office confirmed Monday. Ernst, if elected, would move up one spot in the Senate GOP leadership lineup and be the first woman to hold the position for the […]

Bill to split TikTok from Chinese ownership gets unanimous vote from key U.S. House panel

By: - March 7, 2024

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on the powerful U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved a White House-supported bill that would force TikTok to split from its Chinese parent company or face prohibition from U.S. app stores and web hosting services. Members voted 50-0 Thursday to advance the Protect Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, […]

Biden to announce U.S. will construct a port on Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid

By: - March 7, 2024

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to use his State of the Union address Thursday night to announce that the U.S. military will build port infrastructure on the Gaza Strip coast to allow humanitarian aid to arrive by sea. Senior White House officials briefed reporters earlier in the day on the plan that they […]

Trump, Biden close in on clinching nominations after broad Super Tuesday victories

By: and - March 6, 2024

WASHINGTON — Despite facing 91 felony counts, hefty civil penalties and a packed 2024 legal calendar, Donald Trump emerged on Super Tuesday as the Republican Party’s presumptive choice as its presidential candidate in November. The former president has secured 995 of the necessary 1,215 GOP delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination, and likely will […]

Biden, Trump set for massive delegate hauls in 16 nominating contests

By: - March 5, 2024

WASHINGTON — Voters in more than a dozen states will cast their choice for U.S. president Tuesday in the largest single day of nominating contests on the 2024 election calendar. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the clear Republican front-runner, are chasing more than one-third of their respective parties’ delegates during the “Super […]

Five months late, Congress is poised to pass a huge chunk of federal spending

By: , , and - March 4, 2024

WASHINGTON — Congress is on track to approve a staggering $468 billion in government spending this week, finishing part of the work it was supposed to complete by Oct. 1 — including a big boost intended to shore up the federal WIC nutrition program for women, infants and children. Other agencies will see cuts, including […]

What happens next in the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas?

By: - February 14, 2024

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate is expected to head to trial later this month after House Republicans impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday in a historic move against a sitting Cabinet member. A special core set of impeachment rules that were last revised in the 1980s requires the body to consider resolutions […]

Former GOP officials warn of ‘terrifying possibilities’ if Trump immunity claim accepted

By: and - February 13, 2024

WASHINGTON — Accepting former President Donald Trump’s claim of presidential immunity would embolden future presidents to use military force to stay in office indefinitely, a group of anti-Trump Republican former officials warned in a Tuesday brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. Rejecting Trump’s immunity claim, which he has said should protect him from prosecution on […]

Trump asks U.S. Supreme Court to pause federal trial over presidential immunity question

By: - February 12, 2024

WASHINGTON –?Former President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to further delay his federal criminal trial on charges he attempted to subvert the 2020 election, contending his actions were protected by presidential immunity. In a 40-page application to the Supreme Court late Monday, Trump and his attorneys asked the justices to pause […]