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.

California Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy heads to the U.S. House chamber just after noon on Jan. 5, 2023, as the House began another day of votes on his bid to become speaker. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

McCarthy flips GOP holdouts as his campaign for U.S. House speaker gathers speed

By: and - January 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — Kevin McCarthy’s campaign to become speaker of the U.S. House will stretch into at least Friday night, as the California Republican inched ahead in his struggle to unite his divided party around his candidacy and an overhaul of rules under which the chamber will operate. “We’ll come back tonight, and I believe at […]

California Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy heads to the U.S. House chamber just after noon on Jan. 5, 2023, as the House began another day of votes on his bid to become speaker. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

U.S. House stuck for a third day as Republicans struggle to unite around a speaker

By: and - January 5, 2023

UPDATED 8:15 p.m. Central, 1/5/23 WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adjourned Thursday again without a speaker, racking up five more ballots throughout the day before members left the floor shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern, with some decamping to closed-door negotiations and others leaving the Capitol.  “I am not a part of any negotiations,” Colorado’s Lauren […]

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, speaks to reporters following a meeting with House Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

U.S. House paralyzed following second day of GOP failure to elect a speaker

By: and - January 4, 2023

UPDATED 8:15 p.m. Central, 1/4/23 WASHINGTON — The U.S. House adjourned without a speaker for the second day in a row Wednesday as Republicans’ stalemate over who should lead the chamber for the next two years dragged on, with Kevin McCarthy failing to get the votes needed to become speaker on three more ballots.  The […]

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, holds his weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol on June 13, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Conservatives in U.S. House tank McCarthy bid to be speaker on multiple ballots

By: and - January 3, 2023

UPDATED 5 p.m. Central, 1/3/2023 WASHINGTON — Republican control of the U.S. House got off to a rocky start Tuesday when the party was unable to decide who should become speaker amid a sharp disagreement within the party’s more conservative faction.  California Rep. Kevin McCarthy didn’t clinch the backing of the 218 lawmakers he needed […]

Members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol hold their last public meeting in the Canon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 19, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. House Jan. 6 panel report finds Trump incited insurrection, demands accountability

By: and - December 23, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday published its findings in a nearly 850-page report that accused former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection and recommended Congress consider how to determine whether those found to be insurrectionists should be barred from holding office ever again. The report caps 18 months of […]

U.S. President Joe Biden, right, welcomes President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House on Dec. 21, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Zelenskyy pledges a fight for ‘common victory’ against Russian tyranny in visit to U.S.

By: - December 21, 2022

UPDATED 10:20 p.m. Central, 12/21/22 WASHINGTON — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy evoked images of the “great American soldiers” of World War II as he appealed to Congress Wednesday night to continue U.S. assistance in defending Ukraine from deadly Russian shelling and targeting of civilian infrastructure. The historic and surprise visit to the United States by the […]

Justin Ruben and Rime Leonard draw with chalk to celebrate new monthly Child Tax Credit payments and urge congress to make them permanent outside Sen. Chuck Schumer's home on July 12, 2021, in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for ParentsTogether)

Child tax credit expansion left out of congressional omnibus package

By: - December 20, 2022

WASHINGTON — Any last hopes of resurrecting the expanded child tax credit as part of Congress’ massive spending package were dashed early Tuesday when the 4,155-page bill was released without a mention of the tax benefit. The temporary expanded child tax credit, part of a COVID-19 relief deal in 2021, allowed more low-income families, including […]