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.

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

By: and - March 17, 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 […]

Bags of heroin, some laced with fentanyl, are displayed before a press conference regarding a major drug bust, at the office of the New York Attorney General, September 23, 2016 in New York City.

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

By: - March 17, 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 […]

100 US dollars. Macro photo of banknotes of money in the US currency one hundred dollars.

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

By: - March 15, 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,” […]

Falling down cryptocurrency illustration concept shows the graph falling down with the symbol of bitcoin that shine on the dark background for creating the financial background. (Getty Images)

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

By: - March 8, 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 […]

A view of the U.S. Capitol down East Capitol Street at sunset on Jan. 5, 2022 in Washington, D.C.

Biden pick for U.S. archivist caught up in controversy over missing presidential documents

By: - March 2, 2023

WASHINGTON — The nominee for archivist of the United States made her second appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee Tuesday, after the panel blocked her last Congress following a high-profile probe into records at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Colleen Shogan, an executive for the nonprofit White House Historical Association […]

U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Dec. 21, 2022 in Washington, D.C.

White House unveils $2B in weapons for Ukraine on one-year anniversary of Russian invasion

By: - February 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — On the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration announced an additional $2 billion in weapons and a host of new sanctions targeting Russia’s key industries and government officials. The Friday announcement came on the heels of President Joe Biden’s historic and surprise visit to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, where […]

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

By: - February 17, 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 […]

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

By: - February 15, 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 […]

U.S. Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck delivers remarks during the 11th Air Force change of command ceremony at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Aug. 11, 2022.

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

By: and - February 14, 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 […]

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 listen on Feb. 7, 2023, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

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

By: and - February 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden began his State of the Union address Tuesday — his first to a divided Congress — with an appeal to bipartisan 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 […]

People walk through Grand Central Terminal on Aug. 30, 2021, in New York City.

U.S. House panel probes extent of fraud in federal COVID-19 relief programs

By: - February 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — From 2020 to 2022, a group of Minnesotans pretended to be serving meals to low-income children, all the while filing for reimbursement under a federal COVID-19 relief program aimed to buoy child nutrition as schools and childcare centers closed.  In all, the schemers defrauded the government of $250 million, the Minnesota Reformer reported. […]

A Chinese balloon flies above Billings, Montana, on Feb. 1, 2023.

Suspected spy balloon 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 suspected 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.” […]