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News >  WA Government

With internet subsidies drying up, Eastern Washington broadband users call on Congress to replenish funds

Tue., Nov. 7, 2023

WELLPINIT, Wash. – Living on the Spokane Reservation, like in other rural areas where jobs and services can be hard to come by, getting an internet connection made a world of difference for Thornton Allen.

News >  Military

Spokane VA recognized for dramatic improvement in patient feedback

Tue., Oct. 31, 2023

WASHINGTON – The employees at Spokane’s Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center have been through a lot in the past few years.

News >  Nation

Mike Johnson elected speaker of the House after being nominated by McMorris Rodgers

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 25, 2023

WASHINGTON – House Republicans on Wednesday elected Mike Johnson of Louisiana as House speaker, ending a three-week impasse that had stricken the chamber as warring GOP factions repeatedly failed to unite behind a leader.

News >  WA Government

House Republicans remain rudderless after Trump sinks another candidate for speaker

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 24, 2023

WASHINGTON – Another GOP candidate for House speaker lasted mere hours on Tuesday, dropping his bid soon after some Northwest Republicans endorsed him while others kept mum as former President Donald Trump attacked the party’s choice as insufficiently loyal to the “MAGA” movement.

News >  WA Government

As Biden urges Congress to aid allies, GOP discord casts doubt on U.S. support for Ukraine

Sun., Oct. 22, 2023

WASHINGTON – On Thursday night, President Joe Biden used a primetime address from the Oval Office – something that has traditionally been reserved for delivering only the most important messages to the American public – to make the case for continued support for Ukraine, “unprecedented” aid to Israel, funding for border security and more.

News >  WA Government

Jordan’s speaker bid mostly supported by Inland Northwest delegation

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 20, 2023

Members of Congress from Washington and Idaho remained consistent in their three votes for Speaker of the House this week.

News >  Nation

As Jordan’s speaker bid stalls, Northwest Republicans weigh temporary fix while Democrats offer bipartisan solution

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 19, 2023

WASHINGTON – After Jim Jordan failed for the second day in a row to unite House Republicans behind his candidacy for speaker, Northwest lawmakers on Wednesday turned their attention to other solutions to the intraparty impasse that has paralyzed Congress for over two weeks.

News >  Nation

House remains leaderless as Idaho’s Mike Simpson helps block Jim Jordan’s speaker bid

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 19, 2023

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives remained leaderless on Tuesday as a group of GOP moderates turned the tables on the hardliners who ousted the former speaker two weeks earlier, blocking Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid to lead House Republicans.

News >  Sci/Tech

Biden administration investing $1 billion in Northwest hydrogen energy hub

Fri., Oct. 13, 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Energy will invest $1 billion to make the Northwest a hub of the hydrogen fuel industry, a key part of the bipartisan infrastructure legislation Congress passed in 2021.

News >  Nation

House Republicans nominate Scalise for speaker, but his confirmation remains uncertain

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 11, 2023

WASHINGTON – In a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, House Republicans voted narrowly to nominate Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker, but his path to being elected was unclear on a day when Northwest GOP lawmakers expressed support for different candidates.

News >  World

Northwest lawmakers condemn Hamas attack on Israel

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 9, 2023

WASHINGTON – After Palestinian militants launched the most significant assault on Israel in half a century on Saturday, killing hundreds and prompting deadly airstrikes in response, Northwest lawmakers universally condemned the attack and pledged their support to Israel.

News >  Nation

Democrats and Republicans in Washington state agree the nation’s debt is unsustainable. What could Congress do about it?

Sun., Oct. 8, 2023

WASHINGTON – When House Republicans brought Congress within hours of a government shutdown at the end of September – and when a handful of those GOP lawmakers succeeded in ousting Kevin McCarthy as speaker days later – they cited the same motive: reducing a federal budget deficit that has pushed the nation’s debt above $33 trillion.

News >  WA Government

Inslee asks Biden to declare Gray and Oregon Road fires ‘major disaster’ to unlock more federal aid

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 4, 2023

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday asked President Joe Biden to declare the Gray and Oregon Road wildfires a major disaster, a move that could unlock aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help communities in Spokane County recover.

News >  Nation

With House in chaos, Republicans face tough choices and ticking clock to fund government

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 4, 2023

WASHINGTON – After hardline Republicans ousted the House speaker Tuesday for working with Democrats to avert a government shutdown, GOP lawmakers face tough choices with just six weeks before federal funding runs out again.

News >  WA Government

‘Tremendously impactful’: Here’s what a government shutdown could mean for the Inland Northwest

Fri., Sept. 29, 2023

WASHINGTON – A government shutdown appeared all but certain Thursday, despite bipartisan efforts in the Senate to pass a short-term spending bill, as House Republicans instead took a series of symbolic votes with no prospect of funding the government before a new fiscal year begins on Sunday.

News >  Pacific NW

‘This is historic’: Biden orders whole-of-government effort to restore salmon in Columbia, Snake rivers

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 27, 2023

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a landmark memorandum ordering federal agencies to do their part to restore salmon runs in the Columbia and Snake rivers and honor the U.S. government’s treaty obligations to Northwest tribes.

News >  Higher education

Under pressure from Risch and others, Biden administration terminates WSU-led virus research program over risk concerns

UPDATED: Mon., Sept. 25, 2023

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration has ended a program led by Washington State University intended to track down viruses that could pose a threat to humans, after an influential Idaho senator and other critics raised concerns that the work could increase the risk of an accidental disease outbreak.

News >  WA Government

Northwest lawmakers weigh in as House GOP infighting raises government shutdown risk

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 20, 2023

WASHINGTON – As House Republicans struggled to overcome internal divisions and pass a short-term spending bill, Northwest lawmakers from both parties on Wednesday said a government shutdown appeared increasingly likely.

News >  Military

No plan B: VA remains committed to troubled computer system despite three years of problems in Spokane

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 14, 2023

WASHINGTON – In hearings on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday, officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs said they remain committed to a troubled computer system that has harmed patients in the Inland Northwest, despite uncertainty about when – and if – its problems will be fixed.

News >  Local Government

Sen. Murray tells House Republicans to ‘back off’ as Congress returns to D.C. with government shutdown looming

Sun., Sept. 10, 2023

WASHINGTON – When House lawmakers return to the Capitol on Tuesday from their annual August recess, they will face a seemingly simple but often fraught task: paying the bills to avoid a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

News >  Nation

Kim Wyman, Washington’s former top election official, shares what keeps her up at night and why she still has faith in U.S. democracy

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 6, 2023

WASHINGTON – In October 2021, a year after winning a third term as Washington’s top election official and the only Republican elected to statewide office, Kim Wyman surprised many by announcing she would step down to join the Biden administration.

News >  Spokane

New generation leads growth of Spokane Tribe’s Labor Day Powwow

UPDATED: Sun., Sept. 3, 2023

WELLPINIT, Wash. – As hundreds of dancers from across North America poured into the dance hall for Friday’s grand entry at the Spokane Tribe’s Labor Day Powwow, circling the floor to the rhythm of drummers who had traveled 1,500 miles to be there, organizers celebrated the event’s long history while embracing changes they hope will ensure a bright future.

News >  Pacific NW

Federal government, salmon advocates agree to continue talks that could lead to breaching Snake River dams

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 31, 2023

After nearly two years of negotiating, the Biden administration and a coalition of Northwest tribes, environmental groups and other parties agreed Thursday to continue talks that could lead to breaching the Lower Snake River dams in an effort to help endangered salmon recover.

News >  Military

New patio at Spokane Veterans Home lets residents enjoy outdoor space

UPDATED: Wed., Aug. 30, 2023

The Spokane Veterans Home on Wednesday dedicated a new patio that offers residents space to gather outdoors, even as unseasonably cold and wet weather put a damper on a tailgate-themed party.

News >  WA Government

As Biden rolls out ‘game-changer’ for student debt, Washington’s Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez offers rare Democratic dissent

Sun., Aug. 27, 2023

WASHINGTON – In late May, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez walked onto the House floor and voted against a policy she thought was bad for her southwest Washington district, whose residents had elected the freshman Democrat – after twice voting to send Donald Trump to the White House – in the biggest upset of last year’s congressional elections.