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.

How the judge who could ban the abortion pill won confirmation in the U.S. Senate

By: - March 2, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. District Court judge who could end more than two decades of legal access to medication abortion underwent extensive questioning about LGBTQ equality at his December 2017 confirmation hearing — and very little about his views on abortion. Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump earlier in 2017, spent much […]

Bipartisan group predicts U.S. debt default as soon as summer, depending on tax receipts

By: - February 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan think tank expects that the United States will default on its debt in the summer or early fall, if Congress doesn’t take action to address the debt limit before then. The timeline is similar to one the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released last week, saying lawmakers have until sometime between July and September […]

Biden’s annual physical shows he is ‘a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male’

By: - February 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden received a mostly positive review of his health from doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Thursday after undergoing his annual physical.  The official evaluation of Biden’s health comes as the former vice president and longtime U.S. senator from Delaware weighs whether to run for reelection in 2024.  […]

U.S. likely to default on debt between July and September unless Congress acts, CBO says

By: - February 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress has until at least July to broker a bipartisan debt agreement if lawmakers want to avoid a first-ever default, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The nonpartisan scorekeeper, which typically details how much legislation would cost, released a report Wednesday saying that U.S. lawmakers and the Biden administration have until sometime between […]

Attorneys general from Democratic-led states urge judge to keep abortion pill legal

By: - February 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — Attorneys general from 21 Democratic-leaning states are calling on a Texas judge to keep the abortion pill on the market, rejecting claims anti-abortion medical groups made in a lawsuit that’s centered on the medication’s approval more than two decades ago. The latest brief in the case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food […]

Attorneys general from 23 GOP-led states back suit seeking to block abortion pill

By: - February 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — Attorneys general representing nearly two dozen Republican states are backing a lawsuit that would remove the abortion pill from throughout the United States after more than two decades, eliminating the option even in states where abortion access remains legal. The state of Missouri filed its own brief in the case Friday while Mississippi […]

Biden meets with governors, urges them to implement laws allocating billions to states

By: - February 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — Governors from throughout the country met with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday to hash out the best way to implement the billions of federal dollars flowing to their states from both bipartisan and Democratic legislation. Biden, who typically meets with the governors when they’re in Washington, D.C., for their […]

Who’s on the guest list for the State of the Union speech?

By: and - February 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — While members of Congress may not be able to speak during the State of the Union address, they often get their message across through the guests they bring. This year is no exception. Lawmakers through their invitees attempted to signal their approval or disapproval of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, or […]

U.S. House agrees on something: Lawmakers condemn ‘the horrors of socialism’

By: - February 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House held a strongly bipartisan vote Thursday, condemning socialism and former socialist leaders, though Democrats rebuked majority Republicans for spending time on a “political stunt” and refusing to allow debate on an amendment that would have clarified Social Security and Medicare are not socialist programs.  Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer said […]

U.S. House GOP votes to oust Rep. Omar from foreign affairs panel for past antisemitic remarks

By: - February 2, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted along party lines Thursday to remove Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee for past antisemitic statements.  The removal, the first for a Democrat during this session of Congress, followed Democrats’ vote to strip two Republicans of all their committee assignments last Congress for making threats […]

Biden, McCarthy hold ‘productive’ and ‘frank’ debt limit talks as fiscal cliffs loom

By: - February 2, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy huddled behind closed doors at the White House on Wednesday in the first of what will likely be several conversations as the country approaches two fiscal cliffs this year amid divided government. The top issue at the moment is when and how to address […]

Of more than 7,500 threats against members of Congress in 2022, just 22 prosecuted

By: - February 1, 2023

WASHINGTON —  Members of Congress receive thousands of threats a year, though just a fraction of the people who call, mail or email will ever be prosecuted — a situation that’s of great concern to the police who guard members. Just 22 of the 7,501 threats lobbed at members during 2022 led to prosecution, the […]