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.

U.S. to hit debt limit much sooner than expected, thrusting Congress into showdown

By: - January 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will hit its borrowing limit next week, forcing the new, divided Congress into negotiations over the debt limit much sooner than expected, though a potential date for the nation to default isn’t expected until this summer. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote to Congress on Friday afternoon, telling leaders the United […]

U.S. attorney general names special counsel for classified docs found in Biden’s garage

By: and - January 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House revealed Thursday morning that more classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president were discovered outside of secure government facilities, this time in the garage at his Wilmington, Delaware home.  The files have since been turned over to the U.S. Justice Department, which opened a special counsel investigation […]

U.S. House Republicans push through two anti-abortion measures in first work week

By: - January 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Wednesday approved its first abortion-related measures under a new Republican majority, eliciting strong support from GOP members and opposition from Democrats, who rejected the legislation as misleading and incomplete.  Republicans, who secured a four-seat majority during the November midterm elections, said the bill setting medical standards on a national […]

U.S. House GOP plan calls for federal spending cuts, conditions on debt limit increase

By: - January 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republican leaders during a closed-door meeting Tuesday shared more details of the secret agreements Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with conservative lawmakers last week to secure the votes he needed to hold the gavel.  If adhered to, the so-called handshake deal — displayed on slides during the GOP weekly conference meeting — […]

U.S. House GOP backs McCarthy as speaker after tense and chaotic late-night session

By: and - January 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House elected Kevin McCarthy speaker early Saturday after most of the chamber’s Republicans finally gathered behind him, ending a four-day stalemate that led to the most rounds of voting for a speaker since before the Civil War.  The California Republican was able to clinch the gavel on the 15th ballot by […]

US Rep. Kevin McCarthy

U.S. House stuck for a third day as Republicans struggle to unite around a speaker

By: and - January 5, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adjourned Thursday again without a speaker, racking up five more ballots throughout the day before members left the floor shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern, with some decamping to closed-door negotiations and others leaving the Capitol.  “I am not a part of any negotiations,” Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, a leading opponent of […]

U.S. House paralyzed following second day of GOP failure to elect a speaker

By: and - January 4, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adjourned without a speaker for the second day in a row Wednesday as Republicans’ stalemate over who should lead the chamber for the next two years dragged on, with Kevin McCarthy failing to get the votes needed to become speaker on three more ballots.  The 216-214 vote to adjourn until […]

Conservatives in U.S. House tank McCarthy bid to be speaker on multiple ballots

By: and - January 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — Republican control of the U.S. House got off to a rocky start Tuesday when the party was unable to quickly decide who should become speaker amid a sharp disagreement within the party’s more conservative faction.  California Rep. Kevin McCarthy didn’t clinch the backing of the 218 lawmakers he needed to become the head […]

Aerial of Pentagon

U.S. House approves $1.7 trillion funding package and sends it to Biden

By: - December 23, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted Friday to approve a sweeping $1.7 trillion government spending package that carries along with it dozens of new initiatives, including an update to how Congress certifies electoral votes for president and new protections for pregnant workers.  The 225-201 bipartisan vote, with one member voting present, sends the 4,126-page measure […]

Huge $1.7 trillion spending package passes in U.S. Senate, backed by both parties

By: - December 22, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed a massive $1.7 trillion funding package Thursday that carries emergency aid for natural disaster recovery and the Ukrainian war effort, pushing past disputes over immigration policy and barely meeting a Friday deadline when current funding runs out. The bill, supported by both Democrats and Republicans, now goes to the […]

Congress rolls out $1.7 trillion spending deal in race to Friday deadline

By: - December 20, 2022

WASHINGTON — Congress unveiled a $1.7 trillion spending package early Tuesday that would fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, completing the annual process that began this spring when President Joe Biden sent lawmakers his budget request.  Biden’s chief budget official in a statement urged Congress to speedily pass the massive […]

U.S. Supreme Court temporarily keeps Title 42 immigration program in effect

By: - December 19, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is keeping Title 42 in place until the justices can review whether the pandemic-era program should be lifted or continue. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in an order on Monday stayed a lower court’s ruling that would have allowed the program — which was put in place by […]