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News >  WA Government

House GOP leaders Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise stop by Tri-Cities to boost Dan Newhouse’s re-election bid

Fri., Oct. 25, 2024

WASHINGTON – In the final weeks before Election Day, House Republican leaders have embarked on a whirlwind tour of the high-priority districts where close races could decide which party controls the lower chamber next year.

News >  WA Government

Central Washington voters to choose between two very different Republicans in House race between Jerrod Sessler, Dan Newhouse

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 28, 2024

PROSSER, Wash. – Sitting at home in Prosser two days after the August primary, Jerrod Sessler felt confident. His lead over Rep. Dan Newhouse, a fellow Republican who has represented central Washington’s 4th congressional district for a decade, was growing wider as more ballots were counted.

News >  Nation

What’s at stake in the presidential election: Trump and Harris on the issues

Sun., Oct. 13, 2024

WASHINGTON – In many ways, the race for the White House between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris presents a clear choice for voters. But in an extraordinary campaign that has seen a last-minute candidate swap by Democrats and two failed assassination attempts against the Republican, policy differences have often been overshadowed by events.

News >  Health

Bob Ferguson asks Spokane judge for swift decision on abortion pill lawsuit against FDA

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 11, 2024

Washington’s attorney general is asking a federal judge in Spokane to swiftly decide a lawsuit the state filed against the Food and Drug Administration last year and roll back restrictions on a pill commonly used in abortions.

News >  Nation

In a VP debate heavy on policy, Vance and Walz draw clear contrast with their running mates

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 1, 2024

WASHINGTON – Vice -presidential candidates are often chosen partly to contrast with their running mates, and it wasn’t hard for Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio to do that in their debate on Tuesday night.

News >  Nation

What to watch for as Vance, Walz take the stage for Tuesday’s VP debate

Tue., Oct. 1, 2024

WASHINGTON – Vice-presidential debates historically haven’t proved decisive in the race for the White House. But in a 2024 campaign that has been far from typical, all eyes will be on Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota when they meet Tuesday night in what may be the last chance for each party’s ticket to make its case to voters before Election Day.

News >  Nation

Northwest lawmakers help Congress pass short-term spending bill, averting government shutdown

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 25, 2024

WASHINGTON – The House and Senate passed bipartisan legislation Wednesday to fund the government until just before Christmas, despite opposition from some Northwest Republicans to the short-term spending bill that averts a potential government shutdown at the end of the month.

News >  Health

Medication copays to resume for veterans at Inland Northwest VA hospitals

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 20, 2024

WASHINGTON – Thousands of veterans who get their medications from VA medical centers using a troubled new computer system, including the veterans’ hospitals in Spokane and Walla Walla, will have to start making prescription co-payments in October after a two-year suspension of that requirement.

News >  Religion

Spokane pastor calls for healing a divided nation in opening prayer in House of Representatives

UPDATED: Sat., Sept. 21, 2024

WASHINGTON – When the House of Representatives convened at the Capitol on Friday, the opening prayer was delivered not by the House chaplain but by a Spokane pastor who prayed for national healing in a divisive time for the United States.

News >  Nation

Indian Health Service aims to avoid VA’s pitfalls while adopting computer system that has hampered Northwest veterans’ care

UPDATED: Mon., Sept. 23, 2024

WASHINGTON – The Indian Health Service plans to adopt a computer system developed by the company behind the software that has hobbled Spokane’s veterans hospital since 2020, but the federal agency that provides care to about 2.8 million tribal members says it will avoid the Department of Veterans Affairs’ stumbles.

News >  WA Government

Facing steep odds in Senate race against Maria Cantwell, physician Dr Raul Garcia’s unconventional campaign focuses on health care

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 28, 2024

WASHINGTON – It’s not easy to get elected to statewide office as a Republican in Washington state. When voters don’t know your name, it’s just about impossible.

News >  Nation

Three takeaways from Trump-Harris debate

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 10, 2024

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris met on stage in Philadelphia on Tuesday in a debate that kicked off the final stretch of an unusually short and tumultuous presidential campaign.

News >  Nation

Republicans and Democrats presented starkly different visions for America at their conventions. Now it’s up to voters

Sun., Aug. 25, 2024

CHICAGO – The Republican and Democratic conventions took place just one month and 90 miles apart. The fact that both were defined by joy and optimism among the delegates who officially nominated their parties’ candidates speaks to just how dramatically the presidential race has changed in that span.

News >  WA Government

Northwest delegates joyful, optimistic as Harris closes Democratic National Convention

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 22, 2024

CHICAGO – The Democratic National Convention came to a euphoric close on Thursday as Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination for president, leaving delegates from the Inland Northwest feeling confident as they gear up for the final stretch of an election they don’t expect to be easy.

News >  ID Government

To beat Trump, Harris and Walz need to win over moderates. Idaho Democrats have some ideas.

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 22, 2024

CHICAGO – Delegates at the Democratic National Convention were fired up on Wednesday as Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the party’s vice presidential nominee, took the stage to rally the party faithful and make a pitch to the voters who will decide the election.

News >  World

Washington delegates at DNC press Harris to change policy toward Israel and Gaza

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 20, 2024

CHICAGO – In the first month of her campaign for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris has emphasized broad principles more than specific policies, capitalizing on enthusiasm among Democrats without making it clear how she would govern differently from President Joe Biden.

News >  WA Government

Northwest Democrats riding high as DNC kicks off in Chicago

UPDATED: Mon., Aug. 19, 2024

CHICAGO – When President Joe Biden took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, it wasn’t the way he planned to do it just a month earlier.

News >  Military

In farewell to McMorris Rodgers, Fairchild summit showcases progress, pitfalls for military families

Thu., Aug. 15, 2024

Military families and their advocates gathered at Fairchild Air Force Base on Wednesday to share resources, reflect on the progress they have made and highlight the barriers that still make it hard for troops and their families to access adequate food, housing, employment and education.

News >  WA Government

Facing his biggest challenge yet from Jerrod Sessler, Dan Newhouse needs help from Democrats and independents

UPDATED: Wed., Aug. 7, 2024

When Rep. Dan Newhouse was first elected in 2014 to represent central Washington in Congress, he did it by beating fellow Republican Clint Didier by a single percentage point in the general election after a primary in which Didier won about 30% of votes and Newhouse won roughly a quarter.

News >  WA Government

Republicans Jerrod Sessler, Dan Newhouse on track to advance in central WA’s 4th Congressional District

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 6, 2024

Two Republicans appeared on track to advance in Tuesday’s top-two primary and face off to represent central Washington’s 4th Congressional District in November’s general election.

News >  WA Government

Trump shakes up central WA House race, endorsing both Tiffany Smiley and Jerrod Sessler

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 6, 2024

Donald Trump shook up an already-unsettled race for the state’s 4th Congressional District on Saturday, endorsing a second Republican vying to unseat Rep. Dan Newhouse, whose vote to impeach Trump for his role in the 2021 Capitol riot made him one of the prime targets of the former president’s revenge campaign.

News >  WA Government

Dan Newhouse isn’t backing away from Trump impeachment vote. Can he survive another primary?

Sun., Aug. 4, 2024

EPHRATA, Wash. – The first question Rep. Dan Newhouse got at the Grant County GOP’s monthly meeting on Thursday is the one that has loomed over his past three years representing central Washington in Congress.

News >  Nation

‘She’s a person for our time’: Washington senators see Harris reshaping presidential race

Sat., July 27, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – It may have been the most momentous fortnight in modern U.S. political history.

News >  WA Government

In address to Congress, Netanyahu defends Israel’s conduct in Gaza war as Northwest Democrats call for peace

UPDATED: Thu., July 25, 2024

WASHINGTON – In a speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel forcefully defended his nation’s war against Hamas in response to the Palestinian armed group’s attack last year in which it killed nearly 1,200 people and took hundreds of hostages.

News >  World

Patty Murray will skip Israeli prime minister’s address to Congress, calling for ceasefire in Gaza

UPDATED: Tue., July 23, 2024

WASHINGTON – When Israel’s prime minister delivers a controversial address to Congress on Wednesday, it won’t be with the usual backdrop for such an occasion.