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.

President Joe Biden, joined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, delivers remarks on the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel in the State Dining Room of the White House on Oct. 10, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Biden denounces deadly Hamas attack on Israel: ‘There’s no justification for terrorism’

By: and - October 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden wants a returning Congress to take “urgent action” on Israel’s security needs after Hamas militants have injured and killed thousands beginning with Saturday’s brutal attack, including the deaths of 14 Americans. U.S. citizens are also among the hostages taken into Gaza by the armed group, though the administration could not […]

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, is drawing intense criticism for his hold on military nominees. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

With Israel at war, Tuberville urged anew to give up holds on military nominees

By: - October 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — The chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services is again applying pressure on Sen. Tommy Tuberville as the Alabama Republican plans to continue stalling hundreds of military promotions, including top Navy and Air Force leaders, amid deadly attacks on Israel that killed hundreds over the weekend. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island […]

Rows of soybean plants grow in the fields at Seidenstricker Farms, owned by Robert and Cathy Seidenstricker, in De Valls Bluff, Arkansas, on June 25, 2019. (USDA photo by Lance Cheung)

Farm bill stalled amid U.S. House speaker battle, delay of spending bills

By: - October 10, 2023

WASHINGTON —  As Congress faces another pressing deadline to fund the government and the U.S. House grinds to a halt without a speaker, the reauthorization of the nation’s agriculture and hunger programs has taken a back seat. But lawmakers tasked with shepherding the new version maintain their progress is “in good shape.” The previous farm […]

Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks about the Hamas attack on Israel during a news conference in the Rayburn Room at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 9, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

McCarthy may jump into U.S. House speaker race, as crises overseas mount

By: , , and - October 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans will gather behind closed doors beginning Monday night in an attempt to decide who should become the chamber’s next speaker, a race with a renewed sense of urgency with ally Israel now at war and the House in paralysis. Louisiana’s Steve Scalise and Ohio’s Jim Jordan are the only candidates […]

Louisiana’s Steve Scalise and Ohio’s Jim Jordan jump into race for U.S. House speaker

By: and - October 4, 2023

WASHINGTON — Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio announced Wednesday they will seek the U.S. House speaker’s gavel after Kevin McCarthy’s unprecedented ouster brought the lower chamber into uncharted territory. Eight dissident Republicans joined Democrats to unseat McCarthy Tuesday, leaving a vacuum of GOP leadership and bringing an abrupt halt to […]

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks with members of the media in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 30, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

U.S. House votes to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker

By: , and - October 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — Dissident Republicans in the U.S. House voted with Democrats on Tuesday to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker, a historic move that came just nine months after he secured the gavel following days of negotiating with the GOP’s right flank and 15 rounds of voting. It wasn’t immediately clear after the vote how the […]

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 […]

Airmen participate in an airfield establishment exercise at Hurlburt Field, Fla., Sept. 21, 2023. Members of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron jumped from an MC-130J during the 94th Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. (U.S. Department of Defense photo)

Active-duty military would work without pay in shutdown, White House warns

By: - September 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House is warning that a partial government shutdown would mean 1.3 million active-duty armed services members must keep working without receiving paychecks and hundreds of thousands of Pentagon employees would face furloughs. The Biden administration on Tuesday blasted what it’s now calling an “Extreme Republican Shutdown,” saying it would undermine national […]

Tuberville opponents plant hundreds of signs outside U.S. Capitol in protest of blockade

By: - September 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — More than 300 signs dotted the lawn outside the U.S. Senate Tuesday, each bearing the name of a military nominee blocked this year by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy. Multiple Democratic senators delivered comments Tuesday at the sign installation organized by the progressive VoteVets Political Action Committee, which […]

Hospitals plead with Congress to avert $8 billion in cuts in Medicaid funding

By: - September 18, 2023

WASHINGTON — Health care representatives from across the United States are urging Congress to halt cuts to funding that helps hospitals care for uninsured or low-income patients who rely on Medicaid. More than 250 hospitals and health systems appealed to House and Senate leadership in a letter Thursday asking the lawmakers to avert or delay a forthcoming […]

White House slams ‘baseless’ House GOP impeachment inquiry as ‘political stunt’

By: - September 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House is lambasting the House GOP’s decision to open an impeachment inquiry into unproven allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s international business scheme during his time as vice president in the Obama administration. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he directed several of the chamber’s committees to […]

Colleen Shogan, the first woman to be appointed as Archivist of the United States, speaks at her ceremonial swearing-in at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration)

Pennsylvanian sworn in as the first woman to serve as U.S. Archivist

By: - September 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania native Colleen Shogan was sworn in as the 11th Archivist of the United States on Monday, marking the first time a woman has been appointed to oversee billions of the nation’s records and artifacts since the role was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath to […]