Author

Jacob Fischler

Jacob Fischler

Jacob covers federal policy as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

Steve Scalise speaks to reporters with congressional colleagues behind him.

U.S. House GOP pushes through debt ceiling increase coupled with massive spending cuts

By: and - April 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday struggled but whipped just enough votes to pass their plan to temporarily raise the nation’s borrowing limit and also cut spending by slashing key parts of President Joe Biden’s climate and tax law, potentially risking some veterans’ health benefits and imposing more work rules on the nation’s safety […]

Cypress trees stand in swamp near Lake Maurepas

Federal judge temporarily blocks new Biden WOTUS rule in two dozen states

By: - April 12, 2023

A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday blocked in 24 states the Biden administration’s newly effective definition of waters that can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland, a George W. Bush appointee on retired status in the North Dakota District, issued a preliminary injunction in a case two […]

A student at Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans holds a transgender Pride sign that reads My Joy equals Revolution during a walkout event at the school to mark Transgender Day of Visibility.

Biden rule on transgender athletes would set conditions on school sports bans

By: - April 6, 2023

The Biden administration will advance a rule to make it more difficult for schools to exclude transgender youth athletes from competition based on their gender identity, a senior U.S. Education Department official told reporters Thursday. The proposed rule would prohibit blanket bans of transgender athletes competing in sports consistent with their gender identity. But it […]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for his arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 4, 2023 in New York City.

Trump hit with 34 felony counts of falsifying New York state business records

By: , and - April 4, 2023

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 New York state felony offenses related to what prosecutors say were hush money payments to an adult film star. In a brief but historic appearance in a Manhattan trial court, Trump, the first former president to face criminal prosecution, learned he was charged with falsifying […]

Former US President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on September 25, 2021 in Perry, Georgia. Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, Georgia Secretary of State candidate Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), and Georgia Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate State Sen. Burt Jones (R-GA) also appeared as guests at the rally.

Trump labels indictment ‘election interference at the highest level’

By: - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — A New York criminal grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed following news reports.  A former president has never been indicted before. Trump is also a Republican candidate in the 2024 race for the presidency. “This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender […]

Oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico

U.S. House passes sweeping energy bill pushing back against Biden climate policies

By: - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House on Thursday approved a bill packed with Republican energy priorities meant to counteract the Biden administration’s approach and boost U.S. oil and gas production. Numbered H.R. 1 as a signal that energy policy is the House majority’s top legislative priority, the bill includes a package of GOP proposals, ranging from […]

Cypress trees stand in swamp near Lake Maurepas

U.S. Senate clears measure to undo Biden WOTUS rule on wetlands

By: - March 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — Both Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the Biden administration’s intensely contested expansion of what qualifies as wetlands that the federal government can regulate. The Senate approved a resolution, sponsored by West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito, that would revoke the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of […]

Supporters of former President Donald Trump pose for a group photo on the Louisiana State Capitol steps

Trump’s possible arrest by Manhattan DA blasted by U.S. House GOP leaders

By: - March 21, 2023

Former President Donald Trump’s claim that he would be arrested Tuesday had not materialized by early evening on the East Coast, but U.S. House Republicans harshly criticized any such move as an abuse of prosecutorial authority. In an all-caps post to his social media site, Truth Social, on Saturday, Trump predicted that he would be […]

An aerial view of the train derailment wreckage in East Palestine, Ohio.

U.S. Senate leader calls for safety audit into all major railroads after Ohio derailment

By: - March 15, 2023

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Wednesday for the federal authority responsible for determining the causes of transportation casualties to investigate the safety culture at all major North American freight railroads. Following the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment that caused a toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, Schumer, a New York Democrat, said […]

An electric car charges at a public charging station in Baton Rouge owned by Entergy Louisiana

States to receive $2.5B from feds for electric vehicle charging infrastructure

By: - March 14, 2023

The federal government will send $2.5 billion over the next five years to states, local governments and tribes to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Biden administration officials said Tuesday. The new Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant program, which was authorized by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, will spend $2.5 billion over five years to build […]

An aerial view of the train derailment wreckage in East Palestine, Ohio.

Norfolk Southern CEO apologizes for Ohio crash, but won’t back bipartisan rail safety bill

By: - March 9, 2023

The CEO of Norfolk Southern, the railroad operating the train that last month derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, apologized for the derailment at a U.S. Senate hearing Thursday, but declined solicitations to endorse a bipartisan rail safety bill. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw opened his testimony to the Senate Environment and […]

The Puget Sound adjacent to Tacoma, Washington.

Longtime tensions return at U.S. House hearing on federal wetlands rule

By: - February 8, 2023

A U.S. House panel renewed the decades-long fight Wednesday over how standing waters on farmland and other private property should be defined and regulated by federal authorities, with Republicans calling for a pause until the U.S. Supreme Court can provide more clarity. The definition of so-called Waters of the United States, or WOTUS — wetlands […]