DC BUREAU

Our Washington, D.C., bureau reports on congressional delegations and key Supreme Court and administrative decisions that affect our state.

STAFF

Jane Norman

DC Bureau Chief

As the Washington Bureau Chief of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, Jane directs national coverage, managing staff and freelance reporters in the nation’s capital and assigning and editing state-specific daily and enterprise stories. Jane is a veteran of more than three decades in journalism.

Jacob Fischler

DC Deputy Bureau Chief

Jacob covers federal policy and helps direct national coverage as deputy Washington bureau chief for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

Ashley Murray

DC Bureau Senior Reporter

Ashley Murray covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.

Jennifer Shutt

DC Bureau Senior Reporter

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

Ariana Figueroa

DC Bureau Reporter

Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.

Shauneen Miranda

DC Bureau Reporter

Shauneen covers the nation’s capital for States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. An alumna of the University of Maryland, she previously covered breaking news for Axios.

STORIES

States of play: Biden just shy of 270 as counting continues in other battlegrounds

BY: - November 5, 2020

Two days after Election Day, the nation waited for vote-counting to finish in several critical states, where the tallying of mail ballots has left Democrat Joe Biden just short of the votes needed to become the next president. Thursday’s updated totals could push Biden beyond the 270 electoral votes needed to secure victory if the […]

Hoping for gains, congressional Democrats got setbacks

BY: - November 5, 2020

Tuesday’s election did not go as planned for congressional Democrats, who were expected to pick up nearly a dozen GOP seats in the House but instead lost races while also failing to flip Senate seats held by vulnerable Republicans. The outlook for Democratic control of the Senate did not improve the day after the election, […]

election

States of play: Presidential race comes down to mail ballots in battlegrounds

BY: - November 4, 2020

President Donald Trump prematurely declared victory early Wednesday morning, but the outcome of a razor-thin presidential contest actually depends on battleground states, including Nevada, that are trying to finish tallying millions of remaining mail ballots. Trump trails Joe Biden by less than a percentage point in Nevada. The secretary of state has announced additional statewide […]

okay then

How the Chamber of Commerce learned to love Susie Lee and House Democrats

BY: - October 9, 2020

Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives two years ago by winning competitive districts like the Nevada seat of Rep. Susie Lee and Michigan’s Haley Stevens. Now Lee and Stevens are among nearly two dozen House Democrats to benefit in their reelection battles from rare U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsements, to the shock […]

sage grouse in flight

Pendley’s BLM decisions in Western states targeted for rollback

BY: - October 7, 2020

A federal judge’s ruling that the acting head of the Bureau of Land Management was serving unlawfully in that position could have implications for dozens of decisions the agency made across the West during the past 15 months—including in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado. After the judge’s Sept. 25 ruling that William Perry Pendley had been […]

vote sign

An election year like no other puts voters on edge

BY: and - October 5, 2020

WASHINGTON — Widespread anxiety and confusion around voting, compounded by the pandemic that has spread to millions of Americans, including President Donald Trump. A vastly underfunded and decentralized electoral system that could take days and possibly weeks to certify results.  Attempts to suppress voting, interfere with elections and cast doubt on the integrity of mail-in […]

Trump to stay ‘the next few days’ at military hospital for COVID-19 treatment

BY: , and - October 2, 2020

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in suburban Maryland late Friday afternoon, where White House officials said he is expected to stay for “the next few days” for treatment of COVID-19. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany described Trump, who disclosed his diagnosis earlier Friday, as having mild symptoms […]

Nevada senators zero in on threat to health care after Barrett’s nomination

BY: - September 26, 2020

President Donald Trump’s nomination Saturday of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court drew dire predictions from Nevada’s Democratic senators: Once Barrett is confirmed and the right’s majority on the court is expanded, Nevadans can say goodbye to the Affordable Care Act, including the act’s provisions covering people with preexisting conditions. “I’m certain that […]

‘Extremely frustrating’ mail delays for prescriptions hit veterans, rural areas

BY: - August 25, 2020

Jan Stowe, a Vietnam War veteran from Traverse City, Mich., says she was unable to move her head and neck for several days last month after going without medication to treat extreme muscle spasms. Stowe, a Department of Veterans Affairs patient who receives her medication through the U.S. Postal Service, said in an interview with […]

BLM Grand Junction office building

Pendley’s nomination may be scrapped, but he’s still in charge at BLM

BY: - August 21, 2020

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management will continue leading the agency even after his nomination is withdrawn, leading the diverse conservation groups that opposed him to call for his removal from office. The Trump administration said last weekend it would pull the nomination of William Perry Pendley when the Senate […]

War on the West!

Rosen, Senate Dems face uphill fight against Trump public lands pick

BY: - August 5, 2020

Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen is among the Democrats hoping to thwart President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, a man she says is unfit to head the agency because of his record in favor of aggressive oil and gas extraction on public lands. Trump nominated William Perry Pendley to lead […]

none

House passes bipartisan public lands bill; next stop president’s desk

BY: and - July 23, 2020

WASHINGTON — Major environmental legislation sailed through Congress Wednesday while the nation’s political leaders were stuck in intense negotiations over the contours of a fifth coronavirus relief package. The bill would provide $9.5 billion over five years to pay down the National Park Service’s maintenance backlog and provide permanent funding at $900 million per year […]