Author

Jennifer Shutt

Jennifer Shutt

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

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on COVID-19 in the Rose Garden at the White House

U.S. attorney general names special counsel for classified docs found in Biden’s garage

By: and - January 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House revealed Thursday morning that more classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president were discovered outside of secure government facilities, this time in the garage at his Wilmington, Delaware home.  The files have since been turned over to the U.S. Justice Department, which opened a special counsel investigation […]

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, sits during the House Judiciary Committee's markup of Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump

U.S. House Republicans push through two anti-abortion measures in first work week

By: - January 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Wednesday approved its first abortion-related measures under a new Republican majority, eliciting strong support from GOP members and opposition from Democrats, who rejected the legislation as misleading and incomplete.  Republicans, who secured a four-seat majority during the November midterm elections, said the bill setting medical standards on a national […]

U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-California, receives the gavel from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, after McCarthy was elected Speaker

U.S. House GOP backs rules plan without disclosing deals made with hard-right members

By: and - January 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adopted rules Monday for the 118th Congress, though several of the concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with more conservative members of the Republican Party to secure the gavel weren’t included in the document, or publicly circulated ahead of the vote.  The 55-page rules package the House voted nearly party-line 220-213 […]

U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, gives a thumbs-up after being elected Speaker of the House

U.S. House GOP backs McCarthy as speaker after tense and chaotic late-night session

By: and - January 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House elected Kevin McCarthy speaker early Saturday after most of the chamber’s Republicans finally gathered behind him, ending a four-day stalemate that led to the most rounds of voting for a speaker since before the Civil War.  The California Republican was able to clinch the gavel on the 15th ballot by […]

California Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy heads to the U.S. House chamber just after noon on Jan. 5, 2023

McCarthy flips GOP holdouts as his campaign for U.S. House speaker gathers speed

By: and - January 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — Kevin McCarthy’s campaign to become speaker of the U.S. House will stretch into at least Friday night, as the California Republican inched ahead in his struggle to unite his divided party around his candidacy and an overhaul of rules under which the chamber will operate. “We’ll come back tonight, and I believe at […]

California Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy heads to the U.S. House chamber just after noon on Jan. 5, 2023

U.S. House stuck for a third day as Republicans struggle to unite around a speaker

By: and - January 5, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House slogged through more votes for speaker Thursday, with Republicans unable to reach consensus about whether Kevin McCarthy should lead them during the 118th Congress, or if another lawmaker should win the gavel.  Twenty-one Republicans voted against McCarthy during the third day, signaling that ongoing closed-door negotiations and talks on the […]

U.S. House paralyzed following second day of GOP failure to elect a speaker

By: and - January 4, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adjourned without a speaker for the second day in a row Wednesday as Republicans’ stalemate over who should lead the chamber for the next two years dragged on, with Kevin McCarthy failing to get the votes needed to become speaker on three more ballots.  The 216-214 vote to adjourn until […]

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

Conservatives in U.S. House tank McCarthy bid to be speaker on multiple ballots

By: and - January 3, 2023

This story has been updated following the third ballot. WASHINGTON — Republican control of the U.S. House got off to a rocky start Tuesday when the party was unable to decide who should become speaker amid a sharp disagreement within the party’s more conservative faction. California Rep. Kevin McCarthy didn’t clinch the backing of the […]

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky gives a Ukrainian flag signed by members of the Ukrainian military to U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Huge $1.7 trillion spending package passes in U.S. Senate, backed by both parties

By: - December 22, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion funding package Thursday that carries emergency aid for natural disaster recovery and the Ukrainian war effort, pushing past disputes over immigration policy and barely meeting a Friday deadline when current funding runs out. The bill, supported by both Democrats and Republicans, now goes to the […]

US Capitol

Congress clears one-week bill to fund the government, but many hurdles remain

By: - December 16, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate sent President Joe Biden a one-week government funding bill late Thursday, giving negotiators a few more days to wrap up talks on what is expected to be a $1.7 trillion package to keep the federal government up and running through September.  The short-term bill is the second time Congress has […]

White House

White House keys in on mayors and mayors-elect for D.C. forum on federal funding

By: - December 15, 2022

WASHINGTON — Mayors from throughout the United States will sit down with senior Biden administration officials Friday for a half-day forum on how their cities can access resources within the COVID-19 aid bill, bipartisan infrastructure law and Democrats’ signature health care and climate change package known as the Inflation Reduction Act.  The meetings, which will […]

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

U.S. House and Senate GOP at odds over massive government spending deal

By: - December 14, 2022

WASHINGTON — Congress is trying to wrap up its remaining must-pass bills before leaving for the holidays — but a split between Senate Republican and House GOP leaders could hamstring the all-important task of funding government operations and averting a partial shutdown. Senate Republicans are working with Democrats in both chambers to negotiate a major […]