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.

A Chinese balloon flies above Billings, Montana, on Feb. 1, 2023. (Photo by Chase Doak, Special to States Newsroom)

Chinese surveillance balloon now drifting across the middle of the U.S., Pentagon confirms

By: - February 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will postpone his planned trip to Beijing after the U.S. detected a Chinese surveillance balloon hovering over Montana. A senior State Department official said Friday that despite the Chinese government claiming the balloon had entered U.S. airspace accidentally, its presence was a “clear violation of sovereignty.” The […]

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, held a roundtable on Jan. 25, 2023, on the role of social media platforms in the sale of illicit drugs, specifically fentanyl-laced drugs. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

U.S. House GOP takes aim at fake pills containing deadly fentanyl sold on social media

By: - January 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — On a June 2020 morning, Amy Neville entered her son’s bedroom to wake him for an orthodontist appointment.  Fourteen-year-old Alex didn’t wake up.  He died of fentanyl poisoning after taking a counterfeit pill he bought from someone he met on Snapchat, Neville told GOP lawmakers Wednesday during a roundtable discussion of the role […]

(Getty Images photo)

Ukrainians by the thousands arrive in states, but with a time limit

By: - January 20, 2023

WASHINGTON — As the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches next month, Ukrainians who were welcomed to the United States under a special program offering an escape from war are watching another timeline.  The temporary Uniting for Ukraine program, sometimes called U4U, offers a two-year stay in the U.S., given that individuals […]

U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) receives the gavel from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) after McCarthy was elected Speaker in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 7, 2023, in Washington, D.C. After four days of voting and 15 ballots McCarthy secured enough votes to become speaker of the House for the 118th Congress. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP backs rules plan without disclosing deals made with hard-right members

By: and - January 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adopted rules for the 118th Congress on Monday, though several of the concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with more conservative members of the Republican Party to secure the gavel weren’t included in the document, or publicly circulated ahead of the vote.  The 55-page rules package the House voted nearly party-line […]

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

By: and - January 6, 2023

This story has been updated. 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 […]

California Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy heads to the U.S. House chamber just after noon on Jan. 5, 2023, as the House began another day of votes on his bid to become speaker. "We're just going to keep working until we solve it," he told reporters. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

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

By: and - January 5, 2023

This story has been updated. 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 […]

U.S. Rep.-elect Steve Scalise (R-LA) (R) talks to Rep.-elect Ken Buck (R-CO) in the House Chambers on the second day of elections for speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 4, 2023 in Washington, D.C. The House of Representatives is meeting to vote for the next speaker after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failed to earn more than 218 votes on three separate Tuesday ballots, the first time in 100 years that the speaker was not elected on the first ballot. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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

By: and - January 4, 2023

This story has been updated. 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 […]

House Minority Leader speaks Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) during a press conference on the 2023 Fiscal Year at the U.S Capitol Building on Dec. 14, 2022, in Washington, D.C. During the news conference, House Republicans called on Congress to vote on a short-term spending bill for the government which would allow them to pass further funding in the 118th Congress when republicans hold the majority. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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 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 of […]

A pro-Trump mob breaks into the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

U.S. House Jan. 6 panel report finds Trump incited insurrection, demands accountability

By: and - December 23, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday published its findings in a nearly 850-page report that accused former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection and recommended Congress consider how to determine whether those found to be insurrectionists should be barred from holding office ever again. The report caps 18 months of […]

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy gives a Ukrainian flag signed by members of the Ukrainian military to U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as he addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 21, 2022 in Washington, D.C. In his first known trip outside of Ukraine since Russia invaded, Zelensky met with U.S. President Joe Biden and outlined Ukraine’s request for continued military aid. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Zelenskyy pledges a fight for ‘common victory’ against Russian tyranny in visit to U.S.

By: - December 21, 2022

WASHINGTON — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy evoked images of the “great American soldiers” of World War II as he appealed to Congress Wednesday night to continue U.S. assistance in defending Ukraine from deadly Russian shelling and targeting of civilian infrastructure. The historic and surprise visit to the United States by the wartime Ukrainian leader marked his […]

Child tax credit expansion left out of congressional omnibus package

By: - December 20, 2022

WASHINGTON — Any last hopes of resurrecting the expanded child tax credit as part of Congress’ massive spending package were dashed early Tuesday when the 4,155-page bill was released without a mention of the tax benefit. The temporary expanded child tax credit, part of a COVID-19 relief deal in 2021, allowed more low-income families, including […]