Author

Jacob Fischler

Jacob Fischler

Jacob covers federal policy as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

Senators Lisa Murkowski and Joe Manchin sit together on stage at Anchorage's Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center at an April 8 banquest during the Arctic Encounter Symposium. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who attended the event with Murkowski, repeatedly praised the Alaska Republican and called for federal policies to boost fossil-fuel production. He said he supports Murkowski's push for oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He has campaigned across party lines for Murkowski's reelection. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Little appetite for Manchin permitting bill in congressional lame-duck session

By: - November 23, 2022

Among the items on Congress’ lengthy to-do list by the end of the year is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposal to speed up the federal government’s permitting process that certifies energy projects do not harm the environment. But the bill, which was a condition of the centrist West Virginia Democrat’s support for his party’s larger […]

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Republicans' nominee for speaker for the 118th Congress, and the House GOP leadership team for the next session talk with reporters after the party held its leadership elections on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Republicans win control of the U.S. House with 218th seat

By: - November 16, 2022

Republicans clinched a majority in the U.S. House on Wednesday night after a Republican won reelection to a California seat that put the GOP over the top, according to Associated Press projections. Though not as decisive a victory as GOP leaders had hoped, Republican candidates flipped key seats in New York, Virginia, Oregon and Arizona […]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during an event at his Mar-a-Lago home on Nov. 15, 2022, in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump announced that he was seeking another term in office and officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump announces a third bid for the presidency, even as GOP reels from midterm setback

By: - November 15, 2022

Former President Donald Trump, whose lies about his reelection loss in 2020 precipitated an insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Tuesday he will make another run for the White House in 2024. His announcement came only a week after a disappointing showing by Republicans — especially those who endorsed his false claims about 2020 […]

A worker looks through a bag of marijuana that will be used to make marijuana infused chocolate edibles at Kiva Confections in 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Recreational marijuana use will be legal in 21 states after ballot measures pass

By: - November 9, 2022

Advocates for marijuana liberalization saw mixed results as legalization ballot measures were counted Tuesday, with Maryland and Missouri voters approving recreational use for adults but Arkansas, South Dakota and North Dakota rejecting the proposal. Maryland and Missouri will bring the list of states where recreational marijuana use is legal to 21. Maryland’s referendum passed easily, […]

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) holds his weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol June 13, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

No GOP ‘wave,’ but Republicans could still gain control of U.S. House

By: , and - November 9, 2022

WASHINGTON — Republicans fell short of their greatest ambitions for major gains in the U.S. House, with control of the chamber still in doubt early Wednesday.  Republicans are still likely to narrowly win control of the U.S. House, based on expert projections. But of 20 races rated by elections forecaster Inside Elections as true toss-ups, […]

In Pittsburgh, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman thanks supporters during an Election Day Eve rally on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. (Pennsylvania Capital-Star photo by Ethan Dodd)

U.S. Senate control too close to call as multiple states grapple with tight vote counts

By: , and - November 9, 2022

WASHINGTON —  Control of the U.S. Senate remained unclear early Wednesday as races in a handful of swing states in the midterm elections were still too close to call, and it appeared it might be days — or even weeks — before a final result was known. But Democrats flipped the open Pennsylvania Senate seat, […]

Various types of cannabis are displayed at Essence Vegas Cannabis Dispensary before the midnight start of recreational marijuana sales in June 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Weed on the ballot: Voters could approve legal marijuana in 5 more states

By: - November 4, 2022

Midterm voters in five states will determine if they should join the growing list of places where recreational marijuana use is allowed, even as any use of the drug is still illegal under federal law. Referendums to legalize recreational use of marijuana are on Nov. 8 ballots in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, South Dakota and North […]

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 2: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on preserving and protecting Democracy at Union Station on November 2, 2022 in Washington, DC. Biden addressed the threat of election deniers and those who seek to undermine faith in voting in the upcoming midterm elections. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)

With ‘democracy itself’ on the ballot, Biden warns of ‘path to chaos’ by election deniers

By: - November 2, 2022

President Joe Biden asked voters Wednesday night to focus on the threats candidates aligned with his predecessor pose to the foundation of U.S. democracy in the midterm elections. In a 20-minute speech at Washington, D.C.’s  Union Station, before a Democratic audience, Biden decried a rise in political violence, and blamed former President Donald Trump for […]

Water levels at Lake Mead, Nevada, photographed from the Hoover Dam on Oct. 26, 2022, are at 26% of the reservoir’s capacity, which is visible from the change in color of the lake’s walls. (Photo by Jacob Fischler/States Newsroom)

Even as drought forces water cutbacks, climate gets short shrift in midterm election

By: - October 28, 2022

LAKE MEAD, Nev. —The streaks of white on the rock ringing the nation’s largest reservoir show how far its water levels have dropped since it was last full. Lake Mead and nearby Lake Powell, which send water to 40 million people in the Southwest, are at their lowest levels since they were filled in the […]

House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol Chair Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney attend a committee meeting on June 9, 2022. (C-SPAN screenshot)

Trump to be subpoenaed by Jan. 6 panel as the ‘central cause’ of Capitol insurrection

By: - October 13, 2022

The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump, saying the former president must be held accountable as the “central cause” of a violent attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans voted  to authorize a subpoena […]

The U.S. Capitol is lit on Sept. 13, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/Alaskan Beacon)

The battle for control of Congress: Abortion, inflation, crime and Biden

By: , and - October 7, 2022

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are fanning out to every district in the country, leaving the wonky floor debates on Capitol Hill behind for the campaign trail in advance of the crucial Nov. 8 midterm elections.  Democrats are fighting to hold their razor-thin majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, citing two years of […]

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the one-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

Biden to pardon all federal offenses for simple marijuana possession, review criminalization

By: , and - October 6, 2022

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced executive actions that would pardon thousands of people with prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. Biden then called on governors to follow suit with state offenses for simple marijuana possession, saying that “just as no one should be in a Federal prison solely due to the […]