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.

he White House called on the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators to reinstate safeguards for regional banks after the collapse of two banks earlier this month. (Photo via Canva)

White House calls on financial regulators to bring back safeguards for regional banks

By: - March 30, 2023

WASHINGTON —  The Biden administration, placing blame on Trump-era rollbacks, Thursday called on federal banking regulators to reinstate safeguards for regional banks after the record-setting collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York earlier this month. The White House wants the agencies to revive regular stress testing at banks in the $100- […]

The U.S. Capitol is seen on March 21, 2023. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

DOJ memo on threats to local school boards lambasted by Republicans at U.S. House hearing

By: - March 23, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Thursday continued to press accusations that a “woke agenda” is deteriorating parents’ rights in their local school districts. The first hearing this Congress of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government convened to examine whether a 2021 Department of Justice memo played a role in […]

As opioids overdose deaths keep rising, report urges lawmakers to develop new approaches

By: - March 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers should view America’s staggering opioid crisis, including the rise of illicit fentanyl, through an “ecosystems” approach, argues a massive RAND Corporation report published Thursday. That means they should examine the gaps and interconnections among emergency response, data collection, education, treatment, housing and law enforcement, the report advises. The 600-page volume — which […]

Marines refuel an MV-22B Osprey at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, after completing an exercise flight, Jan. 28, 2021. (Photo by Senior Airman Andrew Bertain/U.S. Space Force)

Pentagon to halt use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS as cleanup costs mount

By: and - March 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Battered by years of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and environmental advocates, the Department of Defense will stop purchasing PFAS-containing firefighting foam later this year and phase it out entirely in 2024.  The replacement for Aqueous Film Forming Foam has yet to be determined, and advocates are frustrated it’s taken so long to halt […]

A worker (center) tells people that the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters is closed on March 10, 2023, in Santa Clara, California. Silicon Valley Bank was shut down on Friday morning by California regulators and was put in control of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Prior to being shut down by regulators, shares of SVB were halted Friday morning after falling more than 60% in premarket trading following a 60% decline on Thursday, when the bank sold off a portfolio of US Treasuries and $1.75 billion in shares to cover declining customer deposits. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Biden says U.S. bank deposits are safe despite tumult over California bank collapse

By: - March 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden reassured Americans early Monday that their money is safe in U.S. banks, after a tumultuous weekend following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and a move by regulators to shut down a second lender. Americans “should feel confident that their deposits will be there, if and when they need them,” […]

U.S. Capitol is seen in an undated photo. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom)

GOP bill mandating federal Parents Bill of Rights passed by U.S. House committee

By: - March 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — A national “Parents Bill of Rights” is headed for a full U.S. House vote after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce early Thursday approved the measure designed to empower parents to inspect books and other teaching materials in schools. Lawmakers on the committee debated the GOP-backed bill that would federally mandate […]

Bitcoin logos are seen in an undated image. (Illustration by Namthip Muanthongthae/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate panel probes how crypto mining increases energy consumption

By: - March 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — The so-called mining for digital assets, or cryptocurrency, consumes as much electricity as some entire nations, and U.S. senators explored the issue Tuesday in what they said was their first-ever hearing focused on the energy implications of digital currency.   Crypto mining in both Nebraska and Pennsylvania was discussed in particular by the members […]

President Joe Biden speaks about the U.S. response to the high-altitude Chinese balloon and three other objects that were recently shot down by the U.S. military over American airspace, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House complex Feb. 16, 2023, in Washington, D.C. The balloon incident prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned visit to Beijing, China. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Biden says no evidence yet that unidentified flying objects were tied to China spying

By: - February 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — In his first address since the U.S. military shot down three unidentified flying objects last weekend, just days after taking down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the actions and said the skies above the U.S. will now be more closely scrutinized. Biden, who was under increasing pressure […]

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley arrive for a briefing in January 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

One missile fired at mystery flying object wound up in Lake Huron, officials say

By: - February 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — The American public may know by week’s end the administration’s strategy on unidentified flying objects going forward, but some questions about three recent ones shot down by the U.S. military may not be answered for a long time, if ever. Debris from the three low-altitude objects downed by U.S. Air Force air-to-air missiles […]

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon on Feb. 5, 2023, off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. U.S. fighter aircraft operating under U.S. Northern Command authority engaged and destroyed a high-altitude surveillance balloon over U.S. territorial waters at the order of US President Joe Biden. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Thompson/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

Midwestern, Western states in spotlight after mystery flying objects shot down by military

By: and - February 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — Military posts in Midwestern and Western states played key roles in the unprecedented downings of multiple unmanned aerial objects over the North American continent this weekend. Members of Congress and governors from the states involved and from both parties have shared information about the downings on Twitter and in statements, in some cases […]

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) questions members of a panel testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense on China’s high altitude balloon surveillance efforts against the United States on Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Members of both houses of Congress also received closed-door briefings on the recent incident today. Also pictured are committee chairman Sen. Jon Tester (L) (D-MT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R) (R-ME). (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

China balloon’s voyage across Alaska, Montana and U.S. enrages members of U.S. Senate panel

By: - February 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators grilled Pentagon officials Thursday on why a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was permitted to fly over Alaska and across the lower 48 states before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina. The Senate Committee on Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, led by Montana Democrat Jon Tester, featured […]

Biden in State of the Union address draws boos and shouts from a combative GOP

By: and - February 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden began his State of the Union address Tuesday — his first to a divided Congress — with an appeal to bixpartisan priorities, but later criticized parts of the GOP agenda and got a sense of Republicans’ appetite for conflict during one combative stretch. Biden opened the 72-minute speech with an […]