Author

Jennifer Shutt

Jennifer Shutt

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

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, nominee for Social Security commissioner, July 19, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Executive Office of the Governor of Maryland.)

U.S. Senate panel advances former Maryland governor’s nomination to lead Social Security

By: - November 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley moved one step closer Tuesday to becoming the next Social Security commissioner, a role that would become increasingly difficult as the program inches closer to insolvency during the next decade. The U.S. Senate Finance Committee voted 17-10 to send O’Malley’s nomination to the floor, though it’s not clear […]

The dates for the 2024 presidential and vice presidential debates have been set. Shown is the White House on June 24, 2023. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Three presidential debates, one VP debate scheduled ahead of 2024 election

By: - November 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Democratic and Republican nominees for president would debate three times next year if both candidates agree to a schedule released Monday by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. “The United States’ general election debates, watched live worldwide, are a model for many other countries: the opportunity to hear and see leading candidates […]

President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House on Oct. 19, 2023 in Washington, D.C. Biden discussed the U.S. response to the Hamas-Israel conflict, humanitarian assistance in Gaza, and the continued support for Ukraine during Russia’s ongoing invasion. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst – Pool/Getty Images)

Biden signs stopgap spending bill, avoiding government shutdown 

By: - November 20, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has signed the stopgap spending bill, giving his administration and Congress about two months to work out agreement on the dozen annual spending bills. Those appropriations measures were supposed to become law by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, but disagreement about whether to adhere to the […]

Congress sends stopgap spending bill to Biden’s desk, averting shutdown for now

By: - November 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators voted 87-11 to approve legislation Wednesday that would fund the government into next year, clearing the measure for President Joe Biden’s signature. The stopgap spending bill, sometimes called a continuing resolution or CR, would fund part of the government until mid-January and the rest of the programs within the annual appropriations […]

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks on his cell phone as walks back to his office in the U.S. Capitol building on Nov. 13, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images).

U.S. House passes stopgap spending bill in bipartisan vote, in crucial test for new speaker

By: - November 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House took a broadly bipartisan vote Tuesday to fund the government into the new year, though the measure must pass the Senate by the end of the week if Congress is going to avoid a partial government shutdown. The 336-95 House vote was the first major legislative test for Speaker Mike […]

VA secretary says agency will cooperate with investigation into veterans crisis line 

By: - November 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough sought to defend the veterans crisis line Wednesday in a letter to the Kansas senator who has raised concerns with how some veterans are treated after calling it. McDonough wrote in the three-page letter to Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran that the VA “takes any allegations […]

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks on his cell phone as walks back to his office in the U.S. Capitol building on Nov. 13, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images).

Congress nears another government shutdown deadline on Friday at midnight

By: - November 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress on Monday appeared to be on the edge of approving another short-term government funding bill this week, though several hurdles remain if lawmakers want to stave off a partial government shutdown when the current funding law expires at the end of the week. Democratic leaders and President Joe Biden expressed some skepticism […]

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, right, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, left testify during a hearing before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Nov. 8, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden administration, senators divided on how to move ahead on border security

By: - November 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were at odds Wednesday on how lawmakers should improve border security, as they wrestle with how to handle a White House request for emergency spending. Mayorkas, speaking to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pointed to a sweeping proposal President Joe Biden released early in his […]

Next year, the entire U.S. House and one-third of the Senate will be up for reelection, with possibly acrimonious congressional primaries on both sides of the aisle and the battle over selection of a Republican presidential nominee. (Getty Images)

Spending mess in Congress could arch over into pivotal 2024 election year

By: - November 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress will need to pass a second stopgap funding measure before Thanksgiving if lawmakers want to avoid a government shutdown, though pushing off final decisions on full-year spending bills until next year would put lawmakers smack dab in the middle of what’s expected to be a contentious 2024 primary season. During election years, […]

The Biden administration is seeking $1.55 billion for State Opioid Response grants. (Getty Images)

White House, Pennsylvania senator urge Congress to pass emergency anti-opioid funding

By: - November 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s top drug policy expert and Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on Wednesday pressed Congress to approve billions in emergency funding to address opioid addiction. “We still have a ways to go to get it through the heads of people here in Washington about how important it is to vote […]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testify during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill Oct. 31, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Ukraine and Israel aid must be bound together, two Cabinet secretaries tell U.S. Senate

By: - November 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress must approve funding for both Israel and Ukraine if it wants to avoid being dragged into a direct conflict with Russia or emboldening terrorist organizations, two top Biden administration officials told senators Tuesday. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken both testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee that there […]

Newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., thanks U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., after she delivered his nomination speech as the House of Representatives held an election for a new speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 25, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Next for a new U.S. House speaker: three-week deadline to dodge a government shutdown

By: - October 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — Newly elected U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has three weeks to broker an agreement with Democrats to avoid a partial government shutdown when a short-term spending law expires on Nov. 17. The Louisiana Republican, who has leaped from relative obscurity to one of the four congressional leaders, has already spoken with his Senate […]