Author

Ariana Figueroa

Ariana Figueroa

Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.

House Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer of Kentucky

GOP witnesses at Biden impeachment hearing see insufficient evidence of wrongdoing so far

By: - September 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — With two days before a partial government shutdown, House Republicans held their first impeachment inquiry hearing Thursday over unproven allegations that President Joe Biden benefited from his son’s business dealings overseas. Witnesses tapped by Republicans for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing acknowledged that there was no evidence showing that the president […]

Fall peppers and chili at Bloomingdale Farmers Market on Nov. 9, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

Food benefits for low income families at risk in a gov’t shutdown, White House says

By: - September 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — As Congress barrels toward a partial government shutdown, the White House Monday warned that a program that helps millions of low income families afford healthy food could see substantial cuts. The White House released a state-by-state breakdown, estimating that nearly 7 million people who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, […]

Pistols on the shelf at Caso’s Gun-A-Rama store in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Biden administration to create new gun violence prevention office

By: - September 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House announced Thursday the formation of an Office of Gun Violence Prevention that will help states and local governments as they implement a gun safety legislative package President Joe Biden signed into law last year. Lacking additional action in Congress to curb gun violence, “the Office of Gun Violence Prevention along with […]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel (left), R-Kentuck, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (right), D-New York, walk with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky at the U.S. Capitol Building on Sept. 21, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

‘If we don’t get the aid, we will lose the war’: Zelenskyy asks Congress to help Ukraine

By: and - September 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers to reiterate the need for continued aid to support his country’s fight against the Russian invasion, even as the U.S. faces a partial government shutdown as soon as the end of the month. “If we don’t get the aid, […]

Jheanpiere Contreras, Genesis Contreras and Daniel Soto, who two days ago arrived from Venezuela after crossing the U.S. border from Mexico, wait in line for dinner at a hotel provided by the Annunciation House on Sept. 22, 2022 in El Paso, Texas.

Biden administration offers temporary protection to Venezuelan migrants

By: - September 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced late Wednesday that the agency will expand protected status to nearly half a million Venezuelan nationals, allowing them to live and work in the United States. The move comes after multiple requests from cities that have struggled to house asylum seekers and calls from […]

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 20, 2023.

U.S. attorney general defends Hunter Biden investigation under questioning by House GOP

By: - September 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans led by Ohio’s Jim Jordan on Wednesday grilled U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland about how the Justice Department has handled its investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden on felony gun charges. The questions about the president’s son came after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week asked several committees, including the […]

Water cascades from a fountain on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at Southern University in Baton Rouge.

White House: Louisiana has shortchanged Southern $1.12 billion over 30 years

By: - September 18, 2023

States have engaged in decades of underfunding of land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities, leading to a more than $12 billion disparity with comparable white institutions, leaders of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday. “Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and […]

People gather for a rally on the 10th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in Battery Park in New York City.

Menendez, other U.S. Senate Democrats vent frustrations after new ruling against DACA

By: - September 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday declared illegal the Biden administration’s revised version of a program that protects hundreds of thousands of people brought into the country as children from deportation, and U.S. Senate Democrats, advocates and the White House on Thursday decried the decision. “I think that Congress should act, but it has been […]

A prisoner behind bars with hands cuffed

U.S. prisons chief insists to Senate panel there’s been ‘visible change’ in the system

By: - September 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Wednesday outlined to the Senate Judiciary Committee how she has sought improvements in the nation’s troubled prison system, and fielded questions from Republicans about transgender inmates. “Developing meaningful change throughout the agency is not something that happens in a moment,” Colette Peters, the director […]

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

U.S. House Speaker McCarthy tells committees to launch Biden impeachment probe

By: - September 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced that he has directed several House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into unproven GOP allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s business dealings when he was vice president in the Obama administration. “These allegations paint a picture, a picture of corruption,” […]

A student loan form with calculator, pen, note pad on a desk.

Millions enrolled in new student loan repayment program

By: - September 5, 2023

WASHINGTON — More than 4 million federal student loan borrowers are enrolled in the Biden administration’s new repayment program, according to figures released Tuesday by the Department of Education. With the pause of more than three years on federal student loan repayments coming to an end in October, and the Supreme Court’s summer decision to […]

A student loan form with calculator, pen, note pad on a desk.

Here’s what to know about new federal policies for repaying student loans

By: - August 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — Following the Supreme Court’s summer ruling against 40 million federal student loan borrowers who would have qualified for debt relief, the Biden administration crafted a-year-long delay in repayments. The policy, known as an on-ramp, is set to begin next month. Additionally, hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Department of Education unveiled a […]