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.

U.S. Senate in bipartisan vote blocks Biden rule to reopen Paraguayan beef imports

By: - March 21, 2024

The U.S. Senate easily passed a resolution Thursday to repeal a Biden administration rule allowing for beef to be imported from Paraguay. The measure, introduced by Democrat Jon Tester of Montana and Republican Mike Rounds of South Dakota, passed on a bipartisan 70-25 vote. The resolution was made under the Congressional Review Act, which allows […]

Massive $1.2 trillion spending package that would avert a shutdown released by Congress

By: , , and - March 21, 2024

  WASHINGTON — Congress released the final six government funding bills early Thursday, starting off a sprint toward the Friday midnight deadline to wrap up work that was supposed to be finished nearly six months ago. The bipartisan agreement on the $1.2 trillion spending package, which emerged just before 3 a.m., came less than two […]

Biden says it’s ‘vital’ for U.S. Steel to remain owned and operated by Americans

By: - March 14, 2024

U.S. Steel should remain a domestically owned and operated company, President Joe Biden said Thursday, implicitly rejecting an attempt by the Japanese company Nippon Steel to buy the iconic U.S. manufacturer. Biden issued a brief written statement Thursday morning that did not name Nippon, which announced a deal in December to acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. […]

After two months of primaries and caucuses, Biden, Trump clinch their nominations

By: - March 13, 2024

The rematch is set. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump clinched their parties’ nominations for president by winning state primaries Tuesday, setting up the same choice voters saw in the 2020 election. Both candidates are unpopular with the general electorate, but neither faced serious hurdles to their nominations in the states that have […]

Five major takeaways from the Biden budget request

By: - March 11, 2024

President Joe Biden’s budget request for fiscal 2025 would continue several administration goals to lower costs for most families while raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, spend on climate initiatives and provide aid to U.S. partners abroad. The $7.266 trillion budget request that calls for expanding the child tax credit, funding overseas partners and […]

Alabama’s Britt blasts Biden on economy, immigration in GOP State of the Union reply

By: - March 8, 2024

First-term U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama delivered the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday night, and laid blame on Biden for a host of national and international crises — what she said is chaos at the border, in cities, in the economy and among U.S. allies. Britt stuck […]

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 […]

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 […]

Biden ‘fit to successfully execute’ presidential duties, White House doctor says

By: - February 29, 2024

President Joe Biden is physically fit to serve as president, his doctor said Wednesday in a report released by the White House after an annual physical. “President Biden is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency,” Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor wrote in the six-page report. […]

In clash over immigration, Biden and Trump both bound for the U.S.-Mexico border today

By: - February 29, 2024

Surrogates for President Joe Biden dismissed former President Donald Trump’s scheduled visit to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday as a political stunt, adding that the likely Republican presidential nominee was exploiting an issue that he has shown no desire to fix. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, both Democrats, told reporters […]

U.S. Supreme Court to decide if Trump is immune from prosecution for acts as president

By: and - February 28, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear former President Donald Trump’s argument that he should be immune from criminal charges related to the 2020 election. In a one-page order, the court set an expedited briefing schedule, with oral arguments to be held the week of April 22. Proceedings in the federal trial court […]

McConnell to step down as U.S. Senate GOP leader

By: and - February 28, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will step down as the Senate Republican leader in November, he said on the Senate floor Wednesday, announcing the end of a run as party leader that broke records for its length and shaped American politics over nearly two decades. “One of life’s most underappreciated talents is […]