Author

Jacob covers federal policy as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.
Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Drone sighting epidemic spurs Dems in Congress to urge more transparency from feds
By: Jacob Fischler - December 17, 2024
Members of Congress are among those calling for greater transparency from the federal government as a spate of reported drone sightings concentrated in New Jersey and New York has raised questions beyond the Northeast. Reported sightings of drones, officially known as unmanned aerial systems, or UAS, have spiked since Nov. 18, when authorities received several […]
Federal appeals court upholds rapidly approaching TikTok ban
By: Jacob Fischler - December 10, 2024
The law Congress passed this year to force the Chinese parent company of social media giant TikTok to either sell the service or face a U.S. ban is constitutional, a panel of federal appeals judges ruled Friday. The order from a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals preserves the bipartisan law President Joe Biden […]
Trump vow to impose stiff tariffs at odds with anti-inflation campaign message, Dems say
By: Jacob Fischler - November 28, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement Monday that he would impose harsh tariffs on the United States’ closest trading partners will work against his pledge to bring down consumer prices, Democrats in Congress and economists are warning. In a pair of posts to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Monday evening, Trump said on his first day in […]
Trump tells U.S. Senate Republicans they ‘must kill’ journalism shield law
By: Jacob Fischler - November 25, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump ordered congressional Republicans on Wednesday to block a broadly popular bill to protect press freedoms, likely ending any chance of the U.S. Senate clearing the legislation. The measure would limit federal law enforcement surveillance of journalists and the government’s ability to force disclosure of journalists’ sources, codifying regulations the Department of Justice has […]
Former President Donald Trump on the cusp of a second term after victories in swing states
By: Ashley Murray, Jacob Fischler and Ariana Figueroa - November 6, 2024
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump was poised early Wednesday to once again assume the Oval Office after American voters delivered wins in the swing states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania, according to projections from The Associated Press. Trump led with 267 Electoral College votes overall nationally, eclipsing Democratic nominee Vice President Harris’ 224, […]
As presidential campaign rockets toward end, 7 big things that happened this weekend
By: Ariana Figueroa, Jacob Fischler and Jennifer Shutt - November 4, 2024
WASHINGTON — On the final frantic Sunday of the presidential race, while Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a Black church service in Michigan, former President Donald Trump told supporters at a Pennsylvania rally that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after he lost the 2020 presidential election. At a campaign rally at an […]
National Dems to ship $2.5M to state parties, aiming beyond presidential battlegrounds
By: Jacob Fischler - September 27, 2024
The Democratic National Committee will send $2.5 million to more than 30 of its state and territorial parties in the closing weeks of the 2024 election cycle, the DNC said in a Friday statement. With the new grants, national Democrats will have contributed to all 57 state and territorial chapters for the first time in […]
Harris tears into Trump over abortion rights and race in tense presidential debate
By: Ashley Murray and Jacob Fischler - September 11, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump touted policy proposals and traded barbs Tuesday during a presidential debate packed with promises to revive America’s economy and riddled with Trump’s falsehoods about abortion, the 2020 election results and immigration. The debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia hosted by ABC News just 56 […]
‘Let’s fight for it’: Harris vows to chart a new way forward, defeat Trump
By: Ariana Figueroa and Jacob Fischler - August 23, 2024
CHICAGO — Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party’s nomination for president Thursday evening, pitching her candidacy as an opportunity for the nation to move forward, rather than accept a dark future she said would follow a second election of her Republican opponent. Harris on the last night of the Democratic National Convention took advantage […]
A former high school football coach rises to running mate as Walz accepts VP nomination
By: Jacob Fischler - August 22, 2024
CHICAGO — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday, showcasing his appeal on the third night of the Democratic National Convention as a candidate who can fuse a middle-class image to a fairly progressive record and effectively attack the Republican alternative. A native of a small town in Nebraska, Walz […]
‘Hope is making a comeback’: The Obamas make the case for Kamala Harris
By: Jacob Fischler - August 21, 2024
CHICAGO — As he did in his first speech to a Democratic National Convention 20 years ago, former President Barack Obama emphasized the connections binding Americans together and called for a more positive national atmosphere on the second night of this year’s convention Tuesday, while rallying Democrats to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris. At […]
Biden delivers late-night farewell to Democrats as he passes the torch to Harris
By: Jacob Fischler - August 20, 2024
CHICAGO –– After waiting nearly an hour to deliver a scheduled-for-prime-time speech that was pushed to nearly 11:30 p.m. Eastern time, President Joe Biden waited an extra three minutes at the lectern on the first night of the Democratic National Convention as chants from party faithful drowned out his attempts to begin. When planning for […]