Author

Jacob Fischler

Jacob Fischler

Jacob covers federal policy and helps direct national coverage as deputy Washington bureau chief for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

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

On second try, U.S. House approves GOP bill to ease mining on federal lands

By: - May 9, 2024

The U.S. House passed, 216-195, a bill Wednesday that would loosen a restriction on mining operations, reversing a vote last week to return the bill to committee. The bill, written by Nevada Republican Mark Amodei, would clarify that mining companies can conduct mining support operations on federal lands, even without first documenting a known mineral […]

Still much unknown on how marijuana policies would change in states under Biden plan

By: - May 9, 2024

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has proposed loosening the illegal status of marijuana at the federal level – but that doesn’t mean the federal government now condones recreational or medicinal use in the many states that have legalized the drug. Moving marijuana from the government’s list of the most dangerous and least useful substances to […]

TikTok sues to block new U.S. law banning app if it is not sold

By: - May 7, 2024

TikTok and its Chinese parent company on Tuesday challenged a recently enacted federal law banning the short-form video platform from the United States if it is not sold to a non-Chinese owner. TikTok Inc., the U.S. company that operates the popular social media service, and ByteDance, its parent company founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, filed suit […]

Biden administration to greatly ease marijuana regulations

By: - April 30, 2024

The Biden administration plans to remove marijuana from a list of the most dangerous and highly regulated drugs, the Department of Justice said Tuesday night. The Drug Enforcement Administration will propose moving the drug from a Schedule I substance, which also includes heroin and methamphetamine, to Schedule III, which is the category for regulated-but-legal drugs […]

U.S. Supreme Court floats return to trial court for Trump in presidential immunity case?

By: and - April 25, 2024

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Thursday of former President Donald Trump’s argument he is immune from criminal charges that he tried to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. But conservatives who dominate the court appeared open to returning key questions to a trial court, possibly delaying Trump’s prosecution beyond the November […]

Trump makes one last presidential immunity argument to the U.S. Supreme Court

By: - April 15, 2024

Hours after Donald Trump sat in a New York courtroom and became the first former president in U.S. history to be a defendant in a criminal trial Monday, his attorneys filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court renewing his claim of absolute presidential immunity in another criminal case against him. In a reply brief […]

Trump’s repeated escapes from political damage to be tested in NYC trial

By: - April 12, 2024

Donald Trump on Monday in a New York City courtroom will make history as the first former U.S. president to stand trial in criminal proceedings. And it raises new issues for the presumptive Republican nominee for president in November, even as he builds a political brand that so far has seemed immune from accusations of […]

Democrats join in U.S. Senate vote to repeal Biden rule tracking tailpipe emissions

By: - April 10, 2024

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to roll back a Transportation Department rule that targeted greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles traveling on highways. The rule, issued by the Transportation Department’s Federal Highway Administration in December, established greenhouse gas reductions as one of the 18 performance measures for state transportation departments and local planning organizations […]

Biden to visit Port of Baltimore Friday to review federal response on Key Bridge

By: - April 1, 2024

President Joe Biden will tour the Port of Baltimore and the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse Friday as long-term efforts to reopen the port continue, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. “President Biden will travel to Baltimore on Friday to visit the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, meet with state […]

Federal rebuild of Baltimore bridge ‘will not be quick or easy or cheap,’ Buttigieg says

By: - March 27, 2024

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg outlined Wednesday the immediate and longer-term priorities the Biden administration is pursuing in the aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore that left six presumed dead. While many questions remained roughly 36 hours after a massive cargo ship struck the bridge and caused the deadly collapse, Buttigieg […]

Biden pledges federal dollars for ‘entire cost’ to rebuild collapsed Baltimore bridge

By: - March 26, 2024

President Joe Biden called Tuesday for the federal government to foot the bill to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore following its collapse earlier in the day. The ongoing search-and-rescue operation led by the U.S. Coast Guard is the top priority for now, Biden said in brief remarks from the White House on […]

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files resolution to oust Mike Johnson as U.S. House speaker?

By: - March 22, 2024

Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a resolution Friday to remove U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson from his position, using the same parliamentary measure that led to Johnson ascending to the speakership last year. Following a bipartisan vote to approve the six remaining government spending bills for fiscal 2024, Greene filed a motion […]