Orion Donovan Smith

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News >  Nation/World

Can Newhouse hold on to Washington’s most conservative congressional district in test of Republicans’ willingness to forgive Trump impeachment vote?

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 10, 2022

WASHINGTON – In his nearly eight years representing central Washington in the House, Dan Newhouse has fended off challengers from across the political spectrum and carved out a niche as a pragmatic lawmaker more interested in policy than bluster.

News >  Pacific NW

Supreme Court kicks off new term with North Idaho couple’s case that could limit reach of Clean Water Act

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 3, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Supreme Court on Monday kicked off what promises to be another contentious and high-stakes term with oral arguments in a North Idaho couple’s case that could see the court’s conservative supermajority roll back federal protections for the nation’s wetlands.

News >  Nation/World

‘Putin has lost this war’: Jim Risch on Russia’s escalation in Ukraine

UPDATED: Sat., Oct. 1, 2022

WASHINGTON – More than seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the Kremlin’s move to annex four provinces in eastern Ukraine on Friday doesn’t change the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed to meet his main objective of toppling the government in Kyiv.

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News >  Health

VA official pledges budget shortfall related to medical record system won’t result in service cuts in Spokane

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 28, 2022

WASHINGTON – After the Department of Veterans Affairs admitted a new medical record system has upended the budget of Spokane’s VA hospital, the department’s top health official said Wednesday the issue would not result in cuts to service at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center or other facilities using the system.

News

‘One vet harmed is one vet too many’: Amid scrutiny in Congress, Oracle announces it will rebuild VA medical record system being tested in Spokane

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 21, 2022

WASHINGTON – In a pair of hearings this week, Congress ramped up its scrutiny of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ $10 billion contract with Oracle to modernize veterans’ medical records, as the tech giant promised to revamp the troubled computer system it acquired only months earlier.

News >  Education

Nearly 900,000 borrowers in Washington and Idaho are eligible for student debt relief, White House says

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 20, 2022

WASHINGTON – Nearly 900,000 borrowers in Washington and Idaho are eligible to have thousands of dollars of student loans forgiven under President Joe Biden’s new debt relief plan, according to state-by-state estimates from the U.S. Department of Education released by the White House on Tuesday.

News >  Health

Senate Republican’s bill puts abortion debate front and center in midterm elections

UPDATED: Sat., Sept. 17, 2022

WASHINGTON – With the midterm election less than two months away, a GOP senator’s bill to restrict abortion nationwide has put the issue front and center in races in Washington state and across the country, energizing Democrats and frustrating some Republicans.

News >  Military

Charlie Bourg was on the lookout for veterans harmed by a new VA computer system. He didn’t expect to be one of them.

Sun., Sept. 11, 2022

WASHINGTON – Charlie Bourg and Charlie Monroe first met in 2016 when the two veterans started a marathon protest outside Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center that evolved from demanding access to exercise equipment into a catch-all demonstration calling for better treatment for patients and staff.

News >  Nation/World

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Bjelkengren nominated by Biden to fill post on U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 6, 2022

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Spokane judge Charnelle Bjelkengren to serve as a U.S. District Court judge in the Eastern District of Washington.

News >  Nation/World

Republicans stoke fears of auditor ‘army’ after Democrats boost IRS funding to crack down on tax-dodging

Sun., Sept. 4, 2022

The Biden administration has said the IRS will use the funds to crack down on tax-dodging by corporations and the wealthiest Americans, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen directing IRS chief Charles Rettig in an Aug. 10 letter not to increase audit rates "relative to historical levels" on those earning under $400,000 a year.

News >  Nation/World

Murray and Inslee conclude breaching Snake River dams ‘not an option right now,’ while calling status quo unsustainable for salmon

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 25, 2022

WASHINGTON – Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray have concluded that the Lower Snake River dams should not be breached before the financial and environmental benefits they provide are replaced, work that would cost an estimated $10 billion to $31 billion, according to a report commissioned by the two Washington Democrats.

News >  Nation/World

Dan Newhouse, lone Republican to survive Trump-backed primary challenge after impeachment vote, represents dying breed in GOP

Mon., Aug. 22, 2022

WASHINGTON – When Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming lost her primary last week, it gave Central Washington Rep. Dan Newhouse the distinction of being the sole GOP lawmaker to survive a challenge from a candidate endorsed by Donald Trump after voting to impeach the former president for his role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

News >  Nation/World

House Democrats send Biden landmark bill to lower health care costs, combat climate change and cut deficits with corporate tax hikes

UPDATED: Fri., Aug. 12, 2022

WASHINGTON – House Democrats on Friday passed a landmark bill to lower health care costs, combat climate change and cut budget deficits by raising taxes on corporations, giving President Joe Biden and his congressional allies a much-needed win as the midterm election season heats up.

News >  Nation/World

Flanked by Cantwell and Boise mayor, Biden signs bipartisan science and semiconductor bill to boost U.S. competition with China

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 9, 2022

With Sen. Maria Cantwell looking on, President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a bipartisan bill that will invest $280 billion in scientific research and manufacturing, including $52.7 billion in subsidies to boost domestic production of semiconductor chips, to bolster U.S. competition with China.

News

Murray, Cantwell help Senate pass Biden’s signature bill to lower medical costs, combat climate change and cut deficit

UPDATED: Mon., Aug. 8, 2022

After months of uncertainty and infighting among Democrats, the Senate on Sunday passed a sweeping bill designed to reduce health care costs, combat climate change and reduce the federal deficit. It is a pared-down version of legislation President Joe Biden has long sought to bolster his economic agenda.

News

With Culp telling supporters not to back Newhouse, can Democrat Doug White pull off an upset?

Sun., Aug. 7, 2022

Just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, as Loren Culp was leaving his election night party at Rick’s Eatery in Moses Lake, one of the restaurant’s patrons wanted to make it clear not everyone in the Central Washington’s 4th congressional district agrees with far-right candidates like Culp who have come to dominate the Republican Party.

News >  WA Government

With Newhouse and White poised to survive primary, Culp blames ‘spoiler candidates’ for dividing Trump-aligned voters

Thu., Aug. 4, 2022

As incumbent Rep. Dan Newhouse was poised to advance through the 4th congressional district primary despite voting to impeach former President Donald Trump, on Wednesday his fellow Republican Loren Culp, who was endorsed by Trump, blamed his third-place finish on a crowded field of Trump-aligned candidates.

News >  WA Government

Dan Newhouse, despite impeachment vote, appears to survive contentious primary for Central Washington congressional seat

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 2, 2022

MOSES LAKE – After a crowded and contentious race that saw eight candidates vie to represent Central Washington’s 4th district in Congress, four-term Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, appeared poised to emerge from Tuesday’s top-two primary along with Yakima businessman Doug White, the only Democrat in the race.

News >  Washington

Candidates make their final pitches in drama-filled primary for Central Washington’s 4th congressional district

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 2, 2022

SELAH, Wash. – On Sunday, Jerrod Sessler stood at the pulpit of the Bible Baptist Church in this Yakima County farming town and explained what may be the craziest race in Washington’s primary election that concludes Tuesday.

News >  Pacific NW

Loren Culp doesn’t care about GOP unity. What will it mean if he’s the party’s nominee for Congress?

Sun., July 31, 2022

MOXEE, Washington – At a meeting in Moses Lake held by the Republican Women of Grant County last December, county GOP chairman Mike McKee asked a leading candidate for Congress what he would do to unify a “splintered and fractured” party.

News >  Washington

At campaign stop in Moxee, Loren Culp promises to ‘send Newhouse to the outhouse’

UPDATED: Fri., July 29, 2022

MOXEE, Wash. – On Friday night, just four days before Washington’s primary election, Loren Culp stood in the middle of a restaurant in this Yakima suburb and told his supporters exactly what they wanted to hear.

News >  WA Government

In Central Washington’s 4th district, Dan Newhouse’s re-election hopes rest on voters getting over impeachment vote

UPDATED: Wed., July 27, 2022

OKANOGAN, Wash. – After Rep. Dan Newhouse voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump for inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, local GOP leaders in his Central Washington district called for the four-term Republican to resign.

News

McMorris Rodgers, House Democrats back compromise to pass historic privacy bill. But will Cantwell let it pass?

Mon., July 25, 2022

WASHINGTON – Congress appears closer than ever to passing sweeping legislation that would set national standards for how tech companies collect and use Americans’ personal data, but that won’t happen unless two Washington lawmakers can get on the same page.

News >  Nation/World

The Jan. 6 committee has made its case against Donald Trump. Does it matter to Republican voters?

Sun., July 24, 2022

WASHINGTON – The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol held its eighth hearing Thursday evening, a prime-time television spectacle that capped off a series of presentations detailing former President Donald Trump’s actions before, during and after the riot.

News >  Health

VA delays computer system’s launch in Boise as Senate hearing spotlights harm, massive cost increase

UPDATED: Wed., July 20, 2022

WASHINGTON – In a last-minute decision Wednesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs delayed the planned Saturday launch of a troubled computer system in Boise after a watchdog report linked the system to 149 cases of harm at Spokane’s VA hospital.