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We the People: Pelosi’s likely retirement leaves lawmakers jostling to replace her as House speaker

UPDATED: Sat., Dec. 4, 2021

Each week, The Spokesman-Review examines one question from the Naturalization Test immigrants must pass to become United States citizens.

News

‘This is a Republican agenda’: Idaho’s Mike Crapo calls bipartisan infrastructure bill a win for conservatives as GOP lawmakers face blowback for support

Sun., Nov. 21, 2021

WASHINGTON – Republicans who helped pass the landmark infrastructure bill that became law Monday have faced blowback for supporting the bipartisan legislation.

News

We the People: Biden campaigned on a transformative agenda, but only Congress can make it a reality

UPDATED: Thu., Nov. 18, 2021

Each week, The Spokesman-Review examines one question from the Naturalization Test immigrants must pass to become United States citizens.

News >  WA Government

After visiting VA clinic in Wenatchee, Kim Schrier warns new software hurting veterans’ care, straining health care providers

UPDATED: Wed., Nov. 10, 2021

WASHINGTON – After visiting a Veterans Affairs clinic in Wenatchee, Rep. Kim Schrier warned the VA secretary on Wednesday new software has slowed down veterans’ health care and caused burnout among doctors and nurses since it was implemented a year ago.

News >  WA Government

Congress sending billions to fix roads and bridges in Washington, Idaho through infrastructure bill

UPDATED: Wed., Nov. 10, 2021

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of bridges and thousands of miles of highway in Washington and Idaho are in need of repair, but help is on the way after Congress passed a landmark infrastructure package Friday that will send billions to the Northwest.

News >  Military

McMorris Rodgers, Schrier grill VA official over health records system that employees say is causing plummeting morale at Spokane medical center

UPDATED: Wed., Nov. 3, 2021

A House panel on Tuesday grilled the Department of Veterans Affairs official responsible for a new health records system that has caused delayed care at Spokane’s VA hospital and left employees exhausted and demoralized.

News >  Nation

‘A giant step’ for salmon: As dam-breaching debate rages, Cantwell quietly secures billions for fish recovery

UPDATED: Sun., Oct. 31, 2021

WASHINGTON – While the attention of Northwest salmon advocates has been focused on a renewed debate over the fate of the Lower Snake River dams, a Washington Democrat has quietly worked to secure an unprecedented investment in salmon recovery through two bills Congress appears poised to pass.

News >  WA Government

‘No one got everything they wanted’: Northwest lawmakers stay on message despite Biden’s scaled-back agenda

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 29, 2021

WASHINGTON – After President Joe Biden on Thursday presented a “framework” intended to bring his fragmented party together around his signature “Build Back Better” agenda, Northwest lawmakers stayed on message despite the legislation getting dramatically scaled back from what most Democrats have wanted and Republicans have feared.

News >  Nation

We the People: As vice president, Kamala Harris faces a difficult balancing act

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 29, 2021

Each week, The Spokesman-Review examines one question from the Naturalization Test immigrants must pass to become United States citizens.

News >  WA Government

‘With open minds,’ Murray, Inslee detail process to consider breaching Snake River dams

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 22, 2021

WASHINGTON – Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday announced they will lead a regional process to consider “all options” to restore declining salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River Basin, including the potential breaching of the Lower Snake River dams.

News >  WA Government

Forced to downsize their agenda, Democrats make final push for priorities and spin scaled-back bill as ‘good first step’

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 22, 2021

WASHINGTON – Standing in front of the Capitol on Thursday, between twin banners emblazoned with the words “care can’t wait,” Sen. Patty Murray assured a crowd of parents, home health aides and other caregivers Democrats are about to extend a historic helping hand to make their lives better.

News

Northwest lawmakers, former Pentagon chiefs pay tribute to Colin Powell after former top diplomat dies of COVID-19

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 19, 2021

Tributes to Gen. Colin Powell poured in from Northwest lawmakers after the former secretary of state died Monday at age 84 from complications related to COVID-19.

News

Three Washington Democrats at center of crafting bill to ‘fundamentally reshape the American economy’

Sun., Oct. 17, 2021

WASHINGTON – Three Washington lawmakers are at the center of a debate among Democrats that will decide the fate of the ambitious national agenda they campaigned on in 2020 – and perhaps the party’s fortunes in 2022.

News >  WA Government

Child care costs more than college in Washington. Democrats in Congress want to change that.

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 20, 2021

When Emily Gwinn decided she wanted to get back into the workforce a year after her third child was born, one big question loomed: Who would care for her kids while she was at work?

News >  WA Government

Inslee, Murray plan to release dam breaching assessment by next summer

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 14, 2021

WASHINGTON – Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray are exploring options to breach the lower Snake River dams and replace the benefits they provide, Inslee told a virtual gathering of Washington environmentalists Thursday.

News >  Nation

U.S. borders to open in November to vaccinated travelers from Canada, Mexico

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 12, 2021

WASHINGTON – After more than 18 months of waiting, vaccinated travelers from Canada and Mexico will be allowed to enter the United States by land for nonessential travel starting in early November, senior Biden administration officials said Tuesday.

News >  WA Government

Cantwell, McMorris Rodgers in key roles as Congress looks to crack down on Facebook

Sun., Oct. 10, 2021

WASHINGTON – Last week was a decidedly bad one for Facebook, as the social media giant faced the dual crises of a server outage on Monday and a whistleblower detailing to senators a day later how the company has knowingly chosen profits over protecting children and curbing misinformation and hate, a charge she also made Sunday during a “60 Minutes” interview on CBS.

News >  Nation

As Biden restores national monuments, Western Republicans tout alternative conservation plan

Sat., Oct. 9, 2021

WASHINGTON – In January, just a week after he became president, Joe Biden set an ambitious goal of conserving 30% of the nation’s land and waters by 2030, and in May his administration outlined a set of principles guiding that “30 by 30” initiative.

News >  WA Government

Cathy McMorris Rodgers tests positive for COVID-19, quarantining in Spokane with mild symptoms

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 8, 2021

WASHINGTON – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has tested positive for COVID-19, the Spokane Republican announced Friday.

News >  Washington

Poll finds most Washington voters support plan to breach Snake River dams

Thu., Oct. 7, 2021

WASHINGTON – A new survey conducted on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups found a majority of Washington state voters are open to an effort to restore salmon runs by breaching the Lower Snake River dams while replacing the energy, transportation and irrigation they provide.

News

White House says U.S.-Canada border closure ‘determined by our public health officials’ as Northwest Democrats, Republicans alike cry foul

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 4, 2021

WASHINGTON – Weeks after allowing passenger flights from Canada to the United States, the Biden administration has not explained why Canadians can’t make similar trips in a car.

News >  Nation

Infrastructure bill would let Bonneville Power Administration borrow $10 billion to modernize Northwest power grid, but critics say it props up ‘failed status quo’

Sun., Oct. 3, 2021

WASHINGTON – As progressive and centrist Democrats edged closer to a deal this week on a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill, Congress is poised to pass a bill with big implications for the Northwest, letting the cash-strapped Bonneville Power Administration borrow an extra $10 billion to shore up an agency that provides more than a quarter of the region’s electricity.

News >  WA Government

Waldref ‘thrilled’ after Senate confirms her as first female U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 1, 2021

WASHINGTON – After the Senate confirmed her to serve as the Justice Department’s top lawyer in Eastern Washington, Vanessa Waldref said Friday she was “humbled and honored,” and looked forward to returning to her home state.

News >  Nation

Senate confirms Tracy Stone-Manning to lead Bureau of Land Management despite GOP objections

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 30, 2021

WASHINGTON – On a party-line vote, the Senate confirmed Tracy Stone-Manning to serve as director of the Bureau of Land Management, capping off a contentious process marked by controversy over her role in an effort to sabotage an Idaho timber sale more than three decades ago.

News

Passengers may have been thrown from Spokane-bound Amtrak train during deadly derailment

UPDATED: Mon., Sept. 27, 2021

Passengers may have been thrown from an Amtrak train as it derailed Saturday in north central Montana, leaving three people dead and seven others hospitalized.