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.

(Getty Images photo)

Bipartisan group projects U.S. default as soon as early June, citing ‘quite low’ cash flows

By: - May 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government could default as soon as next month if Congress and the Biden administration can’t reach a debt limit agreement before then, according to a new analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center.  The updated guidance, which puts the default window between early June and early August, adds pressure to President Joe […]

The Guardian or Authority of Law, created by sculptor James Earle Fraser, rests on the side of the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

U.S. Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill as lawsuit continues

By: and - April 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — The abortion pill will remain available throughout the United States while a lawsuit over its approval and use works through the appeals process, the U.S. Supreme Court said Friday. The court issued a stay that ensures access to mifepristone nationwide, reversing lower court rulings about when and how the abortion medication should be […]

The U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 2022. (Photo by Marisa Demarco/Source New Mexico)

U.S. House GOP unveils plan on debt ceiling, spending cuts; Biden slams ‘wacko notions’

By: - April 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans unveiled a debt limit proposal Wednesday that would lift the nation’s borrowing capacity by $1.5 trillion or suspend it through March.  The bill, introduced by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, carries along with it numerous Republican initiatives that are unlikely to get the bipartisan support necessary to clear the divided Congress.  That […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks about the debt limit crisis at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, April 17, 2023. (Screenshot from speaker's office webcast)

U.S. House speaker vows vote soon on spending cuts coupled with debt limit increase

By: - April 17, 2023

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy traveled to the New York Stock Exchange on Monday to press for the Republican approach to raising the nation’s debt limit in front of a new audience, calling on Democrats to agree to future spending cuts without any tax increases.  McCarthy repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden and blamed him for […]

The Guardian or Authority of Law, created by sculptor James Earle Fraser, rests on the side of the U.S. Supreme Court on September 28, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocks limits to abortion pill access

By: - April 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has temporarily halted any changes in access to the abortion medication mifepristone from taking effect until Wednesday at midnight.  The one-page order from Alito, issued late Friday afternoon, will block for now the April 7 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas […]

Mifepristone, one of two drugs used in a medicine-induced abortion is shown here (Photo by Robin Marty via Flickr | CC-BY-SA 2.0)

U.S. Justice Department to ask Supreme Court to reject limits on access to abortion pill

By: and - April 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday it will ask the Supreme Court on an emergency basis to keep access to the abortion medication mifepristone exactly as it is now, amid the appeals process in a much-watched case out of Texas. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement the department “strongly disagrees” with […]

The U.S. Capitol is seen on Sept. 14, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)

Texas judge’s abortion pill ruling supported by 69 Republicans in Congress

By: - April 12, 2023

WASHINGTON — A group of 69 congressional Republicans is backing a federal judge’s ruling that would overturn the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.  The 11 GOP senators and 58 House lawmakers, who filed a brief in the appeals case, broke the relative silence from Republicans in Congress on […]

Attorneys general representing nearly two dozen Republican states are backing a lawsuit that would remove mifepristone abortion pill from throughout the United States after more than two decades, eliminating the option even in states where abortion access remains legal. (Photo by Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

Democratic attorneys general urge appeals court to keep abortion pill available

By: - April 11, 2023

WASHINGTON — Democratic attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia weighed in with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday supporting access to the abortion medication mifepristone. “The availability of mifepristone has been particularly critical in providing access to abortion in low-income, underserved, and rural communities where a nonmedication abortion procedure […]

U.S. Department of Justice asks appeals court to pause abortion pill ruling

By: - April 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — The federal government on Monday asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to place on hold a Texas judge’s ruling that would otherwise overturn U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the abortion pill. The Department of Justice’s request for an administrative stay asks the New Orleans-based appeals court to decide before noon […]

Mifepristone, one of two drugs used in a medicine-induced abortion is shown here (Photo by Robin Marty via Flickr | CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Biden administration appeals judge’s ruling ordering abortion pill off U.S. market

By: - April 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice launched an appeals process Friday that will likely put a landmark decision about access to medication abortion in front of the Supreme Court.  The notice of appeal was filed less than three hours after a federal judge in Texas revoked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval […]

The U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington, D.C., in September 2022. (Photo by Lynne Terry/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

As future of abortion pill is weighed, Democrats in Congress see little they can do

By: - April 5, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats appear lukewarm about pursuing reproductive rights legislation in a divided Congress, even as a federal judge in Texas considers overturning access to abortion pills nationwide. Interviews by States Newsroom with Democrats who control the Senate by a narrow margin found little optimism they could counter a ruling that could potentially […]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for his arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 4, 2023 in New York City. With the indictment, Trump becomes the first former U.S. president in history to be charged with a criminal offense. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Trump hit with 34 felony counts of falsifying New York state business records

By: , and - April 4, 2023

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 New York state felony offenses related to what prosecutors say were hush money payments to an adult film star. In a brief but historic appearance in a Manhattan trial court, Trump, the first former president to face criminal prosecution, learned he was charged with falsifying […]