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News >  Federal Government

What does it mean when Trump says U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela? Northwest lawmakers split after classified briefings

Sun., Jan. 11, 2026

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s plan to “run” Venezuela after capturing the South American nation’s president Jan. 3 came into slightly clearer focus over the past week, but Northwest lawmakers still have questions about his administration’s intentions.

News >  Federal Government

After Trump says U.S. could ‘run’ Venezuela for years, Senate clears way for vote to limit his war powers

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 8, 2026

WASHINGTON – Five Republicans voted with Democrats as the Senate on Thursday cleared a path for a vote next week that could block President Donald Trump from using further military force against Venezuela, after he said the United States could “run” the South American country for years.

News >  Federal Government

Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by Trump march across D.C. to ‘rewrite history’ 5 years after Capitol riot

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 8, 2026

WASHINGTON – A procession of Democratic lawmakers took to the Senate floor on Tuesday in commemoration of what happened on this day five years earlier, when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an effort to reverse the outcome of an election Trump lost.

News >  Federal Government

Congressmen Michael Baumgartner, Adam Smith react after U.S. military attacks Venezuela, captures its president

UPDATED: Sun., Jan. 4, 2026

Baumgartner, of Spokane, praised Trump for toppling an "anti-American, communist, narco-terrorism, narco-trafficking regime." Smith, of Bellevue, said the unintended consequences of Nicolás Maduro's ouster could spark years of American military involvement, increased violence and instability.

News >  Federal Government

Another government shutdown? Here’s a look at what’s ahead as Congress deals with unfinished business

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 30, 2025

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.

News >  Federal Government

Rank-and-file House members are going around leaders to force votes at unprecedented rate. What does that mean for Congress in 2026?

Sun., Dec. 28, 2025

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.

News >  Federal Government

Michael Baumgartner visits Nigeria to highlight violence against Christians, after Trump threatens military intervention in the country

Sun., Dec. 21, 2025

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.

News >  Military

Department of Veterans Affairs eliminates 137 vacant positions at Spokane VA hospital in nationwide effort to ‘streamline operations’

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 23, 2025

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs is eliminating 137 vacant positions at Spokane’s Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center as part of a nationwide effort to “streamline operations and eliminate waste,” the hospital’s director told staff on Dec. 12.

News >  Federal Government

Dan Newhouse won’t seek re-election in 2026, retiring after 12 years representing Central Washington in Congress

UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 17, 2025

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.

News >  Federal Government

Leaders of VA health record program tell lawmakers system is on track to expand in 2026

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 15, 2025

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.

News >  Federal Government

Trump moves to stop states from passing AI laws, highlighting Congress’ inability to regulate tech companies

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 12, 2025

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.

News >  Federal Government

Health insurance price hike seems likely as both Republican and Democratic bills fail in Senate

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 11, 2025

WASHINGTON – Senators on Thursday blocked two bills, one supported entirely by Republicans and the other mainly by Democrats, intended to address health insurance prices that now seem all but certain to increase for millions of Americans when generous and costly subsidies expire at year’s end.

News >  Federal Government

House votes to renew Secure Rural Schools program, approving vital funds for Northwest counties around national forests

UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 10, 2025

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.

News >  Pacific NW

Trump announces $12 billion bailout for farmers hurt by tariffs, including NW wheat growers

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 8, 2025

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Monday announced that his administration would spend $12 billion to bail out U.S. farmers who have suffered the fallout from tariffs, including wheat growers in the Northwest.

News >  Government

Inland NW Republicans defend Caribbean boat strikes amid bipartisan scrutiny of potential war crimes

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 4, 2025

WASHINGTON – Congressional Republicans from the Inland Northwest have largely stood by the Trump administration this week amid bipartisan scrutiny of U.S. military strikes on small boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean, after the Pentagon acknowledged launching a second missile to kill two survivors of an attack in September.

News >  Federal Government

As Trump pushes to end Ukraine-Russia war, Baumgartner says Russia must return kidnapped Ukrainian children

UPDATED: Tue., Nov. 25, 2025

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.

News >  Federal Government

Republicans and Democrats agree U.S. health care costs too much. Will they do anything about it?

UPDATED: Sun., Nov. 23, 2025

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.

News >  Federal Government

Northwest lawmakers all back release of ‘Epstein files’ in Congress after Trump relents

UPDATED: Tue., Nov. 18, 2025

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.

News >  Government

Washington Democrats split as House votes to end longest-ever government shutdown

UPDATED: Wed., Nov. 26, 2025

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives voted largely along party lines Wednesday night to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, with Northwest Republicans voting to fund most of the federal government through January while all but one Democrat from the region opposed the bill because it did not address expiring health insurance subsidies.

News >  Federal Government

Washington Democrats oppose deal to end government shutdown without addressing health care costs

UPDATED: Mon., Nov. 10, 2025

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.

News >  Government

Ahead of Veterans Day, VA limits communication with Congress amid longest-ever government shutdown

UPDATED: Thu., Nov. 6, 2025

WASHINGTON – As the government shutdown reached its record-breaking 36th day on Wednesday, most employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs have kept working. But VA policy limits their communication with Congress, making it harder for House and Senate offices to solve problems for former servicemembers.

News >  Government

Dick Cheney in Spokane: What former VP – instrumental in the U.S. War on Terror – said about the conflict while visiting region

UPDATED: Tue., Nov. 4, 2025

Former Vice President Dick Cheney died on Tuesday at the age of 84. A proponent of aggressive U.S. foreign policy, the former Wyoming congressman and defense secretary emphasized military power in three visits to Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

News >  Federal Government

Moderate voters in this Washington district could help decide control of Congress in 2026

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 21, 2026

VANCOUVER, Wash. – On a Sunday two weeks before Halloween, people flocked from across southwestern Washington to the pumpkin patch and harvest festival at Bi-Zi Farms, on the outskirts of the biggest city in this largely rural corner of the state.

News >  Government

Judges order Trump administration to keep funding SNAP. When will food benefits reach Washington and Idaho families?

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 31, 2025

WASHINGTON – Two federal judges on Friday ordered the Trump administration to continue paying for food assistance that was set to end amid the government shutdown, but it was unclear when families in Washington state and Idaho would receive the benefits.

News >  Government

Government shutdown reaches 30-day mark with no end in sight, as NW Republicans and Democrats trade blame

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 30, 2025

WASHINGTON – The government shutdown reached the 30-day mark on Thursday, as senators left town for the weekend with no clear path to resolving the dispute over health care costs that has kept Congress from funding federal programs.