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.

MIAMI, FLORIDA - JUNE 13: Former U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he makes a visit to the Cuban restaurant Versailles after he appeared for his arraignment on June 13, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges including possession of national security documents after leaving office, obstruction, and making false statements. (Photo by Alon Skuy/Getty Images)

New charges for Trump in classified documents case involve video evidence

By: - July 28, 2023

A federal grand jury added three felony charges against Donald Trump on Thursday in the case alleging the former president took classified materials from the White House after his term ended. Trump directed employees to destroy video evidence that could aid the prosecution in the criminal case, according to a 60-page superseding indictment filed Thursday […]

President Joe Biden speaks during an event on extreme heat July 27, 2023, in Washington, D.C. During the event Biden announced additional actions to protect communities from the effects of extreme heat. On the monitor in the background is Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

As extreme heat sweeps the U.S., Biden warns that states must act to protect workers

By: - July 27, 2023

With many parts of the country gripped by extreme heat, President Joe Biden said Thursday his administration would target states that don’t offer workers heat protections and would direct millions of dollars to water projects and improved weather forecasting. In a live address, with the mayors of Phoenix and San Antonio joining by video, Biden […]

Democrats push more resilient, lower-carbon infrastructure at U.S. Senate climate hearing

By: - July 26, 2023

The changing climate is hurting infrastructure and the national economy, members of a U.S. Senate panel and experts said Wednesday. Members of both parties on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee agreed at a Wednesday hearing on the need for more resilient infrastructure that could withstand the pressures of a changing climate. They also agreed speeding […]

Former President Trump Is Arraigned On Federal Espionage Charges

Trump says he has been told he is a target of the special counsel’s Jan. 6 investigation 

By: - July 18, 2023

Donald Trump has received a target letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith, he said Tuesday, indicating another indictment of the former president is likely over his role in encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump posted to his social media site, Truth Social, on Tuesday, announcing that he’d received the target […]

Pramila Jayapal | Getty Images

Leader of U.S. House progressives apologizes for Israel comments

By: - July 18, 2023

U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, apologized Sunday for saying at a progressive activist conference a day prior that Israel is “a racist state.” Jayapal’s impromptu response to pro-Palestine protestors at the Netroots Nation conference in Chicago sparked backlash from members of both parties on Capitol […]

U.S. Infantry Troops Arrive In Poland For Exercises

Defense bill that targets abortion access, trans health, racial equity passes U.S. House

By: - July 16, 2023

The U.S. House approved Friday an annual defense authorization bill loaded with GOP rollbacks of Pentagon policies on abortion and transgender health care, as well as efforts to boost racial equity. Republican amendments targeting social policy issues turned a typically bipartisan measure preserving the nation’s military security into another front for the culture wars, similar […]

(Photo courtesy of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources)

U.S. House Dems want data on impact of Supreme Court ruling on wetlands protection

By: - July 11, 2023

Top Democrats on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee asked federal agencies Monday to track possible negative effects from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited federal authority to regulate clean water. Washington’s Rick Larsen, the ranking Democrat on the committee, and Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee ranking member Grace Napolitano of California, […]

Opponents of liquid carbon pipelines rally Nov. 9, 2022 in Cowles Commons in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Thanks to federal tax credits, it’s boom time in the Midwest for carbon dioxide pipelines

By: - July 4, 2023

Thousands of miles of carbon dioxide pipelines planned in the Midwest have been spurred, in part, by a major expansion of federal tax credits in Democrats’ 2022 climate law. That could lead to billions of dollars per year in federal tax credits benefiting the powerful Midwest ethanol industry, even as the proposals create intense conflicts […]

Traffic signal. (Askolds Berovskis / EyeEm/ Getty Images)

Roads, bridges, trails, ports: White House awards $2.2B in transportation grants

By: - June 28, 2023

The U.S. Department of Transportation will send more than $2.2 billion in grants to state, tribal and local governments under a grant program that was expanded under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. The $2.26 billion for 162 projects provides funds for each of the 50 states, two territories and the District of Columbia. It is […]

President Trump in the last presidential debate

U.S. judge sets mid-August date for Trump trial in classified documents case

By: - June 20, 2023

Former President Donald Trump is set to face a jury trial on federal charges of mishandling classified information, after the Miami judge overseeing the case signed an order Tuesday scheduling the trial to begin Aug. 14. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, whom Trump appointed to her seat on the federal bench in the Southern […]

MIAMI, FLORIDA - JUNE 13: Former U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he makes a visit to the Cuban restaurant Versailles after he appeared for his arraignment on June 13, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges including possession of national security documents after leaving office, obstruction, and making false statements. (Photo by Alon Skuy/Getty Images)

Trump pleads not guilty in federal documents case, heads back out on campaign trail

By: - June 14, 2023

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami on Tuesday to 37 felony counts of taking highly classified national security documents from his time in office and obstructing efforts to recover the documents, according to media reports from inside the courtroom. Trump, the first former president charged with a federal crime, […]

Former President Donald Trump

Questions and answers about Trump’s indictment on federal criminal charges 

By: - June 13, 2023

A federal judge in Florida unsealed an indictment that accuses former President Donald Trump of hiding classified national security documents after he left the White House, improperly storing them and sharing sensitive information with people who lacked security clearance. Though he’s not the only former federal official to improperly take classified documents with him after […]