DC BUREAU

Our Washington, D.C., bureau reports on congressional delegations and key Supreme Court and administrative decisions that affect our state.

STAFF

Jane Norman

DC Bureau Chief

As the Washington Bureau Chief of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, Jane directs national coverage, managing staff and freelance reporters in the nation’s capital and assigning and editing state-specific daily and enterprise stories. Jane is a veteran of more than three decades in journalism.

Jacob Fischler

DC Deputy Bureau Chief

Jacob covers federal policy and helps direct national coverage as deputy Washington bureau chief for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

Ashley Murray

DC Bureau Senior Reporter

Ashley Murray covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.

Jennifer Shutt

DC Bureau Senior Reporter

Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Her coverage areas include congressional policy, politics and legal challenges with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing and aid to families.

Ariana Figueroa

DC Bureau Reporter

Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.

Shauneen Miranda

DC Bureau Reporter

Shauneen covers the nation’s capital for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. An alumna of the University of Maryland, she previously covered breaking news for Axios.

STORIES

On to November: Trump win in New Hampshire sets up 2024 rematch with Biden

BY: , and - January 24, 2024

WASHINGTON —?Leading Republicans —?and the Biden presidential campaign — on Wednesday rushed to identify former President Donald Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee after he won decisively in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary. Trump bested Nikki Haley, his former United Nations ambassador, by more than 10 percentage points in a moderate state with an open […]

Biden, Harris vow to restore protections for abortion rights as 2024 campaign launches

BY: - January 23, 2024

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris moved abortion access to the forefront of their reelection bid Tuesday by making it the centerpiece of their first joint campaign rally of the 2024 election cycle. “With your voice, with your power, with your vote, we can restore the protections that have been around for over […]

Funding seen as a last hurdle to final U.S. Senate immigration deal

BY: - January 23, 2024

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan agreement that would make the most substantial changes to immigration policy in 30 years hinges on funding disputes, key senators said Tuesday. While senators have not finalized the text of the agreement, they are discussing changes to the White House’s use of parole authority to grant temporary protections to migrants by […]

Florida’s DeSantis withdraws from Republican presidential race, endorses Trump

BY: - January 21, 2024

WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew from the Republican race for the presidential nomination on Sunday, less than two days before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. DeSantis, who came in second in the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses on Jan. 15, released a nearly five-minute video on social media announcing that he had suspended his campaign and […]

Biden says he’s ‘ready to act’ on ‘significant’ changes at the border, including asylum

BY: - January 19, 2024

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden Friday said he backs “significant policy changes” to asylum law, amid ongoing immigration policy negotiations between the White House and Senate tied to passage of a global security package. “I believe we need significant policy changes at the border, including changes in our asylum system, to ensure that we have […]

Bipartisan deal to expand child tax credit, revive business tax breaks advances in Congress

BY: - January 19, 2024

WASHINGTON — A plan to temporarily expand the child tax credit and revive tax breaks for businesses received overwhelming bipartisan support in a committee vote Friday, a rare moment of compromise in a divided Congress that’s headed into a heated election year. The tax policymakers of the GOP-led U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means […]

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson rallies with anti-abortion advocates at March for Life

BY: - January 19, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to continue pressing for the core values of the anti-abortion movement during a speech to the March for Life on Friday. The Louisiana Republican didn’t commit to bring any legislation instituting a nationwide ban on abortion to the House floor during his tenure, though he advocated support […]

Patients struck by long COVID plead with U.S. Senate panel for more research funding

BY: - January 18, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators pledged Thursday to press for more funding to research long COVID-19 during a hearing that highlighted patients suffering from the diagnosis as well as experts studying its impacts. “Long COVID stripped away my daughter’s life as she knew it,” said Nicole Heim, the mom of a long COVID patient in Winchester, […]

Congress speeds through short-term government funding bill before Friday shutdown deadline

BY: - January 18, 2024

WASHINGTON — Congress will have until early March to finish work it was supposed to complete last fall — and will avert a partial government shutdown — under a bill both chambers approved with broad bipartisan support Thursday. The 77-18 vote in the Senate and 314-108 vote in the House sent the bill to President […]

U.S. House Republicans move ahead with drive to impeach Mayorkas over immigration policy

BY: - January 18, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans Thursday held a second hearing on the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, even as Mayorkas works to reach a deal on changes in immigration law with a group of senators. Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee argued that Mayorkas has not upheld his oath of office because […]

Hispanic and progressive Democrats protest proposals to limit asylum for immigrants

BY: - January 18, 2024

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from the Congressional Hispanic and Progressive caucuses appealed to U.S. Senate negotiators Thursday to abandon a plan to curb U.S. asylum laws and diminish the president’s ability to grant special protections for immigrants escaping war and natural disasters. The Democratic U.S. House members stood against a backdrop of immigrants and asylum seekers […]

No deal on Ukraine, Israel aid after White House meeting with top congressional leaders

BY: and - January 18, 2024

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s White House gathering with lawmakers to find a compromise on foreign aid and immigration was “productive,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, but a deal has still not been reached. Biden hosted congressional leaders and other lawmakers to discuss the administration’s stalled $106 billion national security supplemental request, which […]