Author

Ariana Figueroa

Ariana Figueroa

Ariana covers the nation's capital for States Newsroom. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections and campaign finance.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy takes questions from reporters on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023 at the U.S. Capitol. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Government shutdown nears: U.S. House GOP fails to pass one-month spending plan

By: , , and - September 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — A sweeping government shutdown appeared inevitable on Friday, with the U.S. Senate stuck in a procedural holding pattern on its bipartisan stopgap bill and divided U.S. House Republicans unable to pass their short-term spending bill. Both chambers of Congress must approve and President Joe Biden must sign government funding legislation before midnight on […]

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on judicial nominations on Capitol Hill on Sept. 6, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California dies at 90

By: - September 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein died Thursday night in her home in Washington, D.C. The California Democrat was 90 and had announced in February she would not run for reelection in 2024. “She left a legacy that is undeniable and extraordinary,” her chief of staff, James Sauls, said in a statement. “Senator Feinstein was a force […]

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., speaks during a press conference at Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus on Sept. 25, 2023 in Union City, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Menendez urged to step down by a growing number of U.S. Senate Democrats

By: and - September 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — More than two dozen U.S. Senate Democrats including Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown are calling on New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to resign following his indictment on corruption charges for the second time. Among the 29 senators on the record as of Wednesday was New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, who said in […]

Fresh produce at a market serving WIC recipients. (USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.)

Food benefits for low income families at risk in a government shutdown, White House says

By: - September 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — As Congress barrels toward a partial government shutdown, the White House Monday warned that a program that helps millions of low income families afford healthy food could see substantial cuts. The White House released a state-by-state breakdown, estimating that nearly 7 million people who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, […]

Pistols on the shelf at Caso’s Gun-A-Rama store on March 25, 2021, in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Biden administration to create new gun violence prevention office

By: - September 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House Thursday announced the formation of an Office of Gun Violence Prevention that will help states and local governments as they implement a gun safety legislative package President Joe Biden signed into law last year. Lacking additional action in Congress to curb gun violence, “the Office of Gun Violence Prevention along […]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, right, walk with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 21, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

‘If we don’t get the aid, we will lose the war’: Zelenskyy asks Congress to help Ukraine

By: and - September 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers to reiterate the need for continued aid to support his country’s fight against the Russian invasion, even as the U.S. faces a partial government shutdown as soon as the end of the month. “If we don’t get the aid, […]

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 20, 2023. (Screenshot from committee webcast)

U.S. attorney general defends Hunter Biden investigation under questioning by House GOP

By: - September 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans led by Ohio’s Jim Jordan on Wednesday grilled U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland about how the Justice Department has handled its investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden on felony gun charges. The questions about the president’s son came after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week asked several committees, including the Judiciary […]

U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) addresses reporters after a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on September 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP spending bills falter as Congress struggles to avoid a shutdown

By: and - September 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats said Tuesday they are preparing their own short-term spending bill that they believe will garner bipartisan support, a decision that could stave off a partial government shutdown — and as House Republicans failed to advance two spending bills. The Senate move would work as long as the House votes to […]

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack listens to students’ presentation about their Agricultural Mobile Education Unit after an event at Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, an 1890 land-grant institution, on Feb. 14, 2023. (USDA photo by Christophe Paul)

States urged by Biden administration to rectify underfunding of land-grant HBCUs

By: - September 20, 2023

States engaged in decades of underfunding of land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities, leading to a more than $12 billion disparity with comparable white institutions, leaders of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday. “Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities […]

U.S. prisons chief insists to Senate panel there’s been ‘visible change’ in the system

By: - September 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Wednesday outlined to the Senate Judiciary Committee how she has sought improvements in the nation’s troubled prison system, and fielded questions from Republicans about transgender inmates. “Developing meaningful change throughout the agency is not something that happens in a moment,” Colette Peters, the director […]

U.S. House Speaker McCarthy tells committees to launch Biden impeachment probe

By: - September 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced that he has directed several House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into unproven GOP allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s business dealings when he was vice president in the Obama administration. “These allegations paint a picture, a picture of corruption,” […]

The U.S. Capitol. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Battles over spending, farm bill, Ukraine and yet more loom over a divided Congress

By: , , and - September 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House and Senate are both back in D.C. on Tuesday following a long summer recess, facing an overwhelming agenda of unfinished work — funding the federal government and reauthorizing major programs set to expire at the end of the month. Congressional leaders and President Joe Biden have only a few weeks […]