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.

Manchin’s energy permitting plan roils U.S. Senate and House Democrats

By: and - September 23, 2022

WASHINGTON – The energy permitting proposal centrist Democrat U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III made a condition of his support for a major Senate Democratic measure would impose timelines on federal agencies responsible for approving energy projects, according to text of the measure released late Wednesday.  Congressional Democrats are deeply divided over the Manchin permitting bill, […]

Marjorie Taylor Greene leads GOP drive to criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender youth

By: - September 22, 2022

WASHINGTON — Conservative Republicans gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to commit to bringing legislation to the floor that would make it a felony to give gender-affirming care to transgender youth, should the GOP take control of the U.S. House following the November midterm elections.  “How on earth can this be happening in America? […]

U.S. Senate delays same-sex marriage vote until after midterm elections

By: - September 16, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate won’t vote on legislation to secure marriage equality for millions of Americans until after the midterm elections, bipartisan negotiators announced Thursday.  The move follows weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions among five U.S. senators from both political parties who have been drafting an amendment to the House-passed legislation that they hoped would […]

U.S. Senate Republicans shy away from proposed 15-week national abortion ban

By: - September 14, 2022

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans are skeptical about a 15-week nationwide abortion ban that GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced Tuesday, with some saying they want to leave the issue to state lawmakers instead of taking it up in Congress.  “I think most of the members of my conference prefer that this be dealt with at […]

Biden pitches ‘moonshot’ to cut the number of cancer deaths in half

By: - September 13, 2022

WASHINGTON —  Hoping to channel the momentum that led scientists to land Americans on the moon more than 50 years ago, President Joe Biden doubled down Monday on his quest to halve the number of cancer deaths as part of his revamped “cancer moonshot” initiative.  Speaking from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum […]

New fight opens in Congress over VA policy that sidesteps state abortion bans

By: - September 12, 2022

WASHINGTON — Democrats in the U.S. Senate are confident the Department of Veterans Affairs can implement a new policy that allows its doctors to provide abortions when the pregnancy threatens the patient’s life or health, or when it’s the result of rape or incest.  The VA announced the new policy last week to cheers from […]

GOP balks at White House request for billions for public health, natural disasters, Ukraine

By: - September 12, 2022

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress are lukewarm about providing $47 billion in new emergency spending for the ongoing Ukrainian war against Russia’s invasion, COVID-19 and monkeypox public health campaigns, and to help states recover from natural disasters.  GOP senators, who have returned to Washington after Congress’ summer break, aren’t so sure the Biden administration’s request […]

Bill codifying same-sex marriage nears critical vote in U.S. Senate

By: - September 7, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate is on track to vote on a bill codifying marriage equality as soon as next week with negotiators increasingly confident it could become law.  Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday they’re close to getting at least 10 Republicans to back the same-sex marriage […]

COVID-19 vaccine may become annual, like flu shot

By: - September 7, 2022

WASHINGTON — COVID-19 boosters shots are on track to become as frequent as the annual flu shot, though high-risk people may need more than one dose per year, Biden administration officials said Tuesday.  “For a large majority of Americans, we are moving to a point where a single annual COVID shot should provide a high […]

Abortion access is on the ballot in November in these states

By: - August 29, 2022

WASHINGTON — Voters in at least three states will determine at the polls in November what abortion access looks like for their neighbors, colleagues, friends and family — becoming some of the first Americans to deliver their own verdicts on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Residents of California, Kentucky and […]

Court releases partially redacted affidavit for Mar-a-Lago search

By: - August 26, 2022

WASHINGTON — A judge granted the Federal Bureau of Investigation a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s home earlier this month after agents found 184 documents with classified markings had been kept at Mar-a-Lago. The property — which hosts Trump’s private residence, a golf club and other housing — is not authorized to store […]

White House calls meeting with college officials on how to curb monkeypox on campus

By: - August 26, 2022

WASHINGTON — The White House held a virtual meeting Thursday with more than 1,000 college and university officials to help them prepare for a school year when monkeypox cases are expected to crop up on campus.  The Biden administration’s monkeypox and COVID-19 response teams as well as representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and […]