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.

Bags of heroin, some laced with the drug fentanyl, are displayed before a press conference regarding a major drug bust, at the office of the New York Attorney General, Sept. 23, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

White House rolls out strategy to battle deadly drug mixture of fentanyl and xylazine

By: - July 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House is unveiling a plan to combat the growing threat of drug overdose deaths involving the combination of illicitly manufactured fentanyl and the powerful sedative xylazine, approved only for veterinary use. The plan comes ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’s meeting with state attorneys general next week to discuss the staggering […]

Protestors near the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., after a ruling by the court striking down the use of affirmative action in college acceptance decisions, on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

‘This is not a normal court,’ says Biden as GOP opponents praise affirmative action ruling

By: - June 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively scrambles the role affirmative action plays in the college admissions process cannot let the country slide “backwards,” President Joe Biden said just hours after the majority justices released their opinion. Meanwhile, Republicans seeking to challenge him in 2024 praised the decision. Issues of race and higher […]

A sign noting the acceptance of electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, cards that are used by state welfare departments to issue benefits is displayed at a convenience store on Dec. 4, 2019, in Richmond, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate Democrats ask for more specifics on SNAP changes resulting from debt deal

By: - June 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — Democratic U.S. senators want more details about who will be affected by new work requirements for government food assistance that were a Republican demand under a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. Led by Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, the lawmakers sent a letter on Monday to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack […]

Winter at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, as seen from Pulpit Rock. (National Park Service photo)

Recreational rock climbing on federal lands would be regulated under bill in Congress

By: - June 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill that would establish standards for recreational rock climbing on federal lands is one step closer to becoming law. The Protecting America’s Rock Climbing Act was approved by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in late June, giving a boost to the millions of climbing advocates working to safeguard the […]

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) listen on Feb. 7, 2023, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images)

White House unveils $42.5B to connect every American to high-speed broadband internet

By: - June 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday announced $42.45 billion to connect all Americans to high-speed broadband internet by the end of the decade, likening the ambitious goal to FDR’s New Deal-era rural electrification program that brought the then-modern technology to farms and rural areas across the United States. The funds, which will be distributed […]

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) gives a thumbs down during President Joe Biden's State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on February 7, 2023, in Washington, D.C. The speech marks Biden's first address to the new Republican-controlled House. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Hate groups’ political influence growing, watchdog says

By: - June 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — More than 1,200 hate and anti-government extremist groups were active across the United States in 2022, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s latest report on the nationwide prevalence of extremists who target people of color, LGBTQ people, Jewish communities and other religious minorities. While the overall number of hate and anti-government groups […]

New work requirements for some SNAP recipients included in debt limit deal

By: - May 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — The holiday weekend debt ceiling deal struck by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy preserves in part new work requirements for some food stamp recipients but now with exceptions for certain populations, including veterans. The agreement released late Saturday night showed concessions from both sides — from GOP members, who wanted […]

Deb and Ray Cullen, of Shippingport, Pa., center and right, show a photo of their son, Zachary, in the office of their congressman, GOP Rep. John Joyce, left. Zachary died nine months ago at 23 of fentanyl poisoning. The Cullens traveled to the U.S. Capitol Thursday, May 25 to watch the House vote on the HALT Fentanyl Act. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Fentanyl-related drugs permanently made criminal under bill passed by U.S. House

By: - May 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in the U.S. House passed bipartisan legislation Thursday in an effort to curb staggering overdose deaths from illegal fentanyl substances that are illicitly produced and up to 50 times stronger than heroin. The HALT Fentanyl Act, passed on a 289-133 vote with 74 Democratic votes and support from the Biden administration, would […]

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, pauses as he speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Oct. 14, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

Progressives try to persuade Biden to use the 14th Amendment to resolve debt crisis 

By: - May 23, 2023

WASHINGTON — Progressives are pushing hard for President Joe Biden to take the unprecedented step of invoking the 14th Amendment as a way to avoid financial calamity if the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy do not strike a deal on the debt ceiling in the coming days. The lawmakers and legal scholars argue […]

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks outside the White House following a meeting on the debt limit with President Joe Biden, on May 22, 2023. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Biden and McCarthy strike positive tone after debt limit talks, but no deal yet

By: and - May 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy left their closely watched meeting Monday without an agreement on government spending or the debt limit, prolonging a stalemate that could soon disrupt Americans’ everyday lives as well as the global economy.  Both struck a positive tone Monday, though neither divulged details about what remains unresolved […]

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A default on the U.S. debt would be far worse than a government shutdown. Here’s how.

By: , , and - May 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — A U.S. default on its debt would have a significantly broader impact on federal operations, financial markets and the global economy than recent government shutdowns that have left ordinary Americans largely untouched. While the two have been confused frequently during debate over the debt limit, the federal government has had considerable practice with […]

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 vows debt ceiling talks will continue while he’s overseas at G7 summit

By: - May 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will remain in “constant contact” with debt ceiling negotiators and promised to update the nation Sunday upon his return from a shortened trip to Asia for the G7 economic summit. Biden delivered brief remarks Wednesday before departing on a scheduled trip to Japan that will no longer include stops in […]