Federal Government

WASHINGTON – The Capitol is quiet this week, with Congress out of town for its end-of-year recess, but lawmakers are gearing up for what promises to be a hectic few weeks of work when the Senate returns on Monday and the House a day later.

WASHINGTON – In October 2015, dozens of Republicans joined a minor revolt led by then-Rep. Denny Heck and the House’s Democratic minority to go around the GOP chairman of the Financial Services Committee and reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, a federal agency that finances foreign purchases from Boeing and other U.S. companies.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Michael Baumgartner was expected to land in Nigeria’s capital on Saturday for what he called a “Christmas week mission,” meeting with local leaders to urge the country’s government to do more to protect Christians from violence in Africa’s most populous nation.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Dan Newhouse announced Wednesday that he won’t seek re-election and will retire at the end of 2026, stepping down after a dozen years representing central Washington’s 4th Congressional District in the House.

WASHINGTON – The leaders responsible for a troubled Department of Veterans Affairs computer system told House lawmakers on Monday the program is on track to expand to more than a dozen new hospitals in 2026, following a long delay due to problems that emerged after the system was first deployed at Spokane’s VA hospital five years ago.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to stop states from regulating artificial intelligence, citing the risk of a potential patchwork of state laws holding back the United States in what AI companies describe as a race to develop technology that could surpass human intelligence.

WASHINGTON – The House voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools program, renewing funding that had lapsed since 2023 for counties that contain national forests and other public lands.

Kazim Abdullahi was recently exploring career opportunities with U.S. military forces overseas.

The Trump administration’s recent flurry of policy changes to the immigration, asylum and refugee admission processes follows an October decision that already reshaped America’s status as a safe haven for those facing persecution.

On the eve of a major expansion, a multibillion-dollar project to upgrade the computer systems of all Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals is beset with problems, according to some medical staff who already use it. Critical patient notes disappear. Prescriptions log the wrong dosages. One nurse said the system incorrectly listed one of her patients as dead.

WASHINGTON – As President Donald Trump on Tuesday touted progress in talks to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, an Eastern Washington lawmaker said any peace deal must protect U.S. interests in the region and include the return of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia.

WASHINGTON – When the Senate Finance Committee met Wednesday for a hearing on the rising cost of health care in the United States, Republicans and Democrats agreed the problem has become a national crisis, but it didn’t take long for the parties to demonstrate why they’ve had such a hard time working together to solve it.

WASHINGTON – Hours after the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to direct the Justice Department to release all of its investigative files on the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, senators unanimously sent the measure to the desk of President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON – After eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus broke ranks and voted with Republicans to end the government shutdown, Washington state Democrats on Monday criticized the deal for not addressing their party’s demand to extend insurance subsidies whose expiration would raise health care costs for millions of Americans.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate on Sunday moved forward on a measure aimed at reopening the federal government and ending a now 40-day shutdown that has sidelined federal workers, delayed food aid and snarled air travel.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture directed states to roll back any steps taken to issue full food aid benefits to low-income Americans or risk financial penalties.

The U.S. government on Thursday unveiled a new program to cut prescription drug costs for Medicaid patients by tying prices to those paid in other countries.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday it had identified a security incident and acted to contain the breach at the non-partisan agency that provides key financial research data to lawmakers.