Author

Ashley Murray

Ashley Murray

Ashley Murray covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answers questions from reporters at a White House briefing on Sept. 13, 2023. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

White House slams ‘baseless’ House GOP impeachment inquiry as ‘political stunt’

By: - September 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — The White House is lambasting the House GOP’s decision to open an impeachment inquiry into unproven allegations that President Joe Biden profited from his son’s international business scheme during his time as vice president in the Obama administration. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he directed several of the chamber’s […]

(Getty Images)

Biden administration chooses first 10 drugs for Medicare price negotiations

By: - August 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — Medicare can now negotiate lower prices for 10 common high-price drugs, cutting out-of-pocket costs for an estimated 9 million seniors and saving taxpayers billions, the Biden administration said Tuesday. Medicare will begin this year to negotiate with the manufacturers of popular medications used to treat blood clots, diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic […]

Former President Donald Trump boards his plane at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, following an arraignment in Washington, D.C., federal court on August 3, 2023. Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony criminal charges during his arraignment after being indicted for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Judge sets March trial date in Trump federal election interference case

By: - August 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — The federal trial in the case accusing former President Donald Trump of knowingly lying about the 2020 presidential election results and trying to overturn them will begin in March, a federal judge said Monday. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who waived Trump’s appearance for the first hearing, scheduled jury selection to begin March […]

A farmer harvests corn near Slater, Iowa. on Oct. 17, 2020.

Farm bill timeline in flux as a messy September for Congress nears

By: - August 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — The roundtables, listening sessions and appearances at farm shows have largely wrapped up and lawmakers tasked with reauthorizing the nation’s agriculture and nutrition programs are comparing notes and beginning to draft the massive, multi-year farm bill. The 2018 version expires Sept. 30, just as many urgent priorities compete for floor time in Congress […]

Former President Donald Trump boards his plane at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, following an arraignment in Washington, D.C., federal court on August 3, 2023. Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony criminal charges during his arraignment after being indicted for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump pleads not guilty to charges he sought to subvert 2020 election

By: and - August 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony charges Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., after a federal grand jury handed up an indictment against the former chief executive. Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, was released under the conditions that he must not violate federal, […]

Comedian and activist Jon Stewart hugs Rosie Torres, wife of veteran Le Roy Torres, who suffers from illnesses related to his exposure to burn pits in Iraq, after the Senate passed the PACT Act at the U.S. Capitol Aug. 2, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Demonstrators from veterans-rights groups stood outside the Capitol Building in protest calling on the U.S. Senate to pass the PACT Act. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Veterans exposed to burn pits, toxins urged to apply for retroactive benefits

By: - August 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — A deadline for a year’s worth of backdated benefits is fast approaching for U.S. veterans suffering illnesses after exposure to open burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxins. Nearly a year ago, President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act, a law supporters describe as the largest expansion of veteran benefits in U.S. history. […]

Former President Donald Trump waves as he makes a visit to the Cuban restaurant Versailles after he appeared for his arraignment on June 13, 2023, in Miami, Florida. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges including possession of national security documents after leaving office, obstruction, and making false statements. (Alon Skuy/Getty Images)

‘Fueled by lies,’ Trump charged with seeking to overturn 2020 election

By: , and - August 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Donald Trump on Tuesday, alleging that Trump and co-conspirators attempted to subvert the 2020 election to keep the former president in power through a series of illegal actions that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The former president faces four […]

Two B-1B Lancers assigned to the 28th Operations Group, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, take off for a Weapons School Integration mission at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada on May 30, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Wyatt Stabler)

Defense bill passes Senate with Thune & Rounds support, but deep divide with House looms

By: - July 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators avoided a heated partisan split as they passed the massive annual defense policy package late Thursday —  in stark contrast to the GOP-led House version, in which far-right members included language to restrict abortion access and transgender care for service members. Senators passed the National Defense Authorization Act, 86-11, but lawmakers […]

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs held a hearing Wednesday, July 26, 2023, exploring reported sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena. Witnesses being sworn in from left to right: retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. David Fravor, former Department of Defense National Reconnaissance Officer Representative of the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force David Grusch and Ryan Graves, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life? Congress tries to figure it out

By: - July 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — During an otherworldly hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, lawmakers and witnesses launched accusations that the Pentagon is stonewalling Congress and the public from information about unidentified anomalous phenomena, more often referred to as UFOs. That includes a 2014 encounter when a “dark gray or black cube inside a clear sphere” traveled within 50 […]

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 28, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images)

Senate approves Rounds amendment to block ag land purchases by adversaries

By: - July 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators approved bipartisan amendments to the annual defense policy bill Tuesday night that would prohibit China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing U.S. farmland and screen American investment in high-tech ventures on foreign adversary soil. By a 91-7 vote (including yes votes from both of South Dakota’s senators), the lawmakers approved […]

Protestors near the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., after a ruling by the court striking down the use of affirmative action in college acceptance decisions, on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

‘This is not a normal court,’ says Biden as GOP opponents praise affirmative action ruling

By: - June 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively scrambles the role affirmative action plays in the college admissions process cannot let the country slide “backwards,” President Joe Biden said just hours after the majority justices released their opinion. Meanwhile, Republicans seeking to challenge him in 2024 praised the decision. Issues of race and higher […]

View of the Black Hills from Black Elk Peak trail. (Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight)

Recreational rock climbing on federal lands would be regulated under bill in Congress

By: - June 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill that would establish standards for recreational rock climbing on federal lands is one step closer to becoming law. The Protecting America’s Rock Climbing Act was approved by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources in late June, giving a boost to the millions of climbing advocates working to safeguard the […]