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.

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 […]

TikTok ban for federal workers close to becoming law, following flurry of state bans

By: - December 22, 2022

A ban on federal employees using TikTok on their government-issued phones is on track to become law after Congress included the provision in the year-end government funding bill released early Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s legislation barring the popular social media platform from federal devices was one of several bills attached to the spending measure, […]

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: Protesters enter the Senate Chamber. Congress held a joint session to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. Pro-Trump protesters entered the U.S. Capitol building after mass demonstrations in the nation's capital. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

U.S. House Jan. 6 panel refers Trump for criminal charges, including inciting insurrection

By: - December 19, 2022

 The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in a historic vote agreed unanimously Monday to refer former President Donald Trump and others to the Justice Department for potential criminal charges, including inciting or aiding an insurrection. Trump associates, including attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro and White House Chief […]

U.S. Senate votes to bar TikTok from government devices as state bans multiply

By: - December 16, 2022

The U.S. Senate late Wednesday unanimously passed a bill to ban federal employees from downloading TikTok on their work phones. Critics of TikTok, a widely popular social media platform, say the app creates national security concerns because of its ability to track users’ data — and because the Chinese government can compel that data from […]

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 14: Matthew Haynes, the owner of Club Q hugs Michael Anderson, a survivor of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs after speaking at the House Oversight Committee hearing titled "The Rise of Anti-LGBTQI+ Extremism and Violence in the United States" at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 14, 2022 in Washington, DC. The committee held the hearing to hear from survivors of the Club Q and Pulse Nightclub shootings as well as human rights advocates and medical experts. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Club Q survivors at U.S. House hearing denounce anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

By: - December 15, 2022

Survivors of a deadly attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs and other advocates told a U.S. House panel Wednesday that political rhetoric and policy fights dehumanize LGBTQ people and contribute to such violence. Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee largely sympathized with the survivors, but drew different conclusions […]

Argonaut Wharf near Campbell River, British Columbia, is the primary export port for the Myra Falls mine in Strathcona Provincial Park, on Oct. 31, 2021. Myra Falls primarily mines minerals such as zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold which after being processed is exported from Canada to Asia via freighter ship. (Photo by Alex Ratson via Getty Images)

Tribes seek U.S. help to curb Canadian mining threats to Northwestern states

By: - December 12, 2022

Indigenous leaders from the Northwest renewed their call last week for the federal government to pressure Canada to stop additional mining activity in British Columbia, which they say contaminates waters and threatens Native American ways of life in Alaska, Montana and Idaho. As British Columbia plans to expand its profitable coal, copper and gold mining […]

Cryptocurrency

Despite FTX fallout, some U.S. House members still skeptical about crypto regulation

By: - December 6, 2022

Nearly nine months after a bipartisan group of U.S. House members sent a letter questioning the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into cryptocurrencies, including the failed FTX exchange, the lawmakers are maintaining their position that the agency’s approach to regulating crypto is deeply flawed. In public comments since FTX’s collapse last month, the congressmen, led […]

Urban railroad freight yard

U.S. House votes to avert calamitous rail strike, but Senate prospects murky

By: - November 30, 2022

The U.S. House moved Wednesday to avoid an economically disastrous nationwide rail strike, voting to codify an agreement that members of some unions had already rejected and separately add paid sick leave that workers had demanded. The two-track approach allows Democrats to avert a strike that could cost the U.S. economy up to $2 billion […]

Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposed Energy Independence and Security Act has prompted opposition from a group of 18 Republican state attorneys general.

Little appetite for Manchin permitting bill in congressional lame-duck session

By: - November 28, 2022

Among the items on Congress’ lengthy to-do list by the end of the year is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposal to speed up the federal government’s permitting process that certifies energy projects do not harm the environment. But the bill, which was a condition of the centrist West Virginia Democrat’s support for his party’s larger […]

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

Republicans win control of the U.S. House with 218th seat

By: - November 17, 2022

Republicans clinched a majority in the U.S. House on Wednesday night after a Republican won reelection to a California seat that put the GOP over the top, according to Associated Press projections. Though not as decisive a victory as GOP leaders had hoped, Republican candidates flipped key seats in New York, Virginia, Oregon and Arizona […]

Donald Trump on elections in Arizona emerging from the dark

Trump announces a third bid for the presidency, even as GOP reels from midterm setback

By: - November 15, 2022

Former President Donald Trump, whose lies about his reelection loss in 2020 precipitated an insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Tuesday he will make another run for the White House in 2024. His announcement came only a week after a disappointing showing by Republicans — especially those who endorsed his false claims about 2020 […]

Supreme Court of the US, 9/30/2022

U.S. Supreme Court denies attempt by Arizona GOP chair to block Jan. 6 panel subpoena

By: - November 15, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court sided Monday with the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, denying a request from Arizona Republican Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband to block the panel from obtaining their cellphone records. The court’s two-paragraph order ends Kelli and Michael Ward’s federal suit to block the […]