Author

Ashley Murray

Ashley Murray

Ashley Murray covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, held a roundtable on Jan. 25, 2023, on the role of social media platforms in the sale of illicit drugs, specifically fentanyl-laced drugs. Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom.

U.S. House GOP takes aim at fake pills containing deadly fentanyl sold on social media

By: - January 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — On a June 2020 morning, Amy Neville entered her son’s bedroom to wake him for an orthodontist appointment.  Fourteen-year-old Alex didn’t wake up.  He died of fentanyl poisoning after taking a counterfeit pill he bought from someone he met on Snapchat, Neville told GOP lawmakers Wednesday during a roundtable discussion of the role […]

White House says DOJ had ‘unprecedented access’ to Biden home during search

By: - January 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — Department of Justice officials had “unprecedented access” to every room in President Joe Biden’s Delaware home Friday during a search that followed several days of disclosures that classified material from the Obama era had been found in Biden’s garage and think tank office, White House officials said Monday.  The historic 13-hour search of […]

TIJUANA, MEXICO - MARCH 22: A refugee holds her Ukrainian passport before being allowed to cross the San Ysidro Port of Entry into the United States to seek asylum on March 22, 2022 in Tijuana, Mexico. U.S. authorities have been allowing Ukrainian refugees to enter the U.S. at the Southern border in Tijuana with permission to remain in the U.S. on humanitarian parole for one year. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Ukrainians by the thousands arrive in states, but with a time limit

By: - January 24, 2023

WASHINGTON — As the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches next month, Ukrainians who were welcomed to the United States under a special program offering an escape from war are watching another timeline.  The temporary Uniting for Ukraine program, sometimes called U4U, offers a two-year stay in the U.S., given that individuals […]

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

U.S. House Republicans roll out a slew of new committee chairs to steer agenda

By: - January 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans filled their top committee seats this week, choosing the leaders who will set the course for bills and issues for the new majority in the 118th Congress. Veteran GOP lawmakers from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri were among those who won the right to head up […]

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) receives the gavel from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) after McCarthy was elected Speaker in the House Chamber

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 for the 118th Congress on Monday, though several of the concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with a right-wing faction 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 […]

U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) gives a thumbs-up after being elected Speaker of the House in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol Building early Saturday. (Win McNamee | Getty Images)

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 […]

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy

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

By: and - January 5, 2023

Updated 1/5/2023, 9:05 p.m. WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adjourned Thursday again without a speaker, racking up five more ballots throughout the day before members left the floor shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern, with some decamping to closed-door negotiations and others leaving the Capitol.  “I am not a part of any negotiations,” Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, […]

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

By: and - January 5, 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 noon on […]

Metal detectors outside the U.S. House of Representatives

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

By: and - January 3, 2023

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 218 lawmakers he needed to become the head of the […]

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 13: A video of former President Donald Trump is played during a hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on October 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, in possibly its final hearing, has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. House Jan. 6 panel report finds Trump incited insurrection, demands accountability

By: and - December 23, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday published its findings in a nearly 850-page report that accused former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection and recommended Congress consider how to determine whether those found to be insurrectionists should be barred from holding office ever again. The report caps 18 months of […]

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 21: U.S. President Joe Biden (R) welcomes President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on December 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. Zelensky is meeting with President Biden on his first known trip outside of Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, and the two leaders are expected to discuss continuing military aid. Zelensky will reportedly address a joint meeting of Congress in the evening. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Zelenskyy pledges a fight for ‘common victory’ against Russian tyranny in visit to U.S.

By: - December 22, 2022

WASHINGTON — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy evoked images of the “great American soldiers” of World War II as he appealed to Congress Wednesday night to continue U.S. assistance in defending Ukraine from deadly Russian shelling and targeting of civilian infrastructure. The historic and surprise visit to the United States by the wartime Ukrainian leader marked his […]

Child with down syndrome with other youth, siblings, in yard

Child tax credit expansion left out of congressional omnibus package

By: - December 21, 2022

WASHINGTON — Any last hopes of resurrecting the expanded child tax credit as part of Congress’ massive spending package were dashed early Tuesday when the 4,155-page bill was released without a mention of the tax benefit. The temporary expanded child tax credit, part of a COVID-19 relief deal in 2021, allowed more low-income families, including […]