"If that rule had gone into effect, then every hospital, every nursing home would essentially have to have a plan," said David Michaels, former Occupational Safety and Health Administration chief.Read More
Politics
In Idaho, the divide between Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin is something we all could see coming — grounded, in part, by the fact that Idaho elects its governors and lieutenant governors independently. Little has no more say in this matter than any individual Idaho voter. Read More
Saying that it’s time for the legislative branch to “intervene” in the state’s COVID-19 response, Republican leaders in the Washington Legislature on Thursday called for a special session of the Legislature to begin in June.Read More
The president with a major social media presence is facing a Democratic challenger with fewer digital resources. Biden's strategy counts on real-world conditions overcoming Trump's virtual dominance.Read More
As Washington Gov. Jay Inslee exerts his emergency powers to battle COVID-19, behind the scenes legislative leaders are exploring the idea of a special session of the Legislature, perhaps as early as next month. Read More
Elections are run by state and local governments, and it's unclear what legal means the president would have to withhold funds from the states.Read More
California led the nation in issuing a statewide stay-at-home order. And it's paying an economic price: a $54 billion deficit. As the state reopens, it seeks to balance the economy and public health.Read More
Lawmakers squabbled over how quickly the economy can rebound from the coronavirus shutdown and whether the government is doing enough to support struggling families and businesses.Read More
Like so many sectors of the economy, higher education is taking a big hit from the pandemic. The U.S. Department of Education has so far distributed more than $10 billion in relief funds to colleges. Read More
In the days leading up to the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption 40 years ago, Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputies tried to prevent people from getting too close to the growling, shaking mountain.Read More
In a statement marking 100 days to go before the convention, party leaders said they're taking steps meant to address public health during the coronavirus pandemic.Read More
The Michigan congressman announced on Twitter that he would not seek out a run on the Libertarian Party ticket. The independent had left the Republican party last summer.Read More
In an interview on Thursday, the presidential candidate again denied the allegation of a 1993 sexual assault from a former Senate staffer. He also pledged, if elected, not to pardon President Trump.Read More
It’s long been known in eastern Washington that Matt Shea is not your typical politician. Now, he won’t be on the ballot for the upcoming August primary. The 4 p.m. candidate filing deadline on Friday came and went with no sign of Shea. Read More
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., is stepping aside during the Justice Department's investigation, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Thursday.Read More
Under state laws, Electoral College delegates are pledged to cast their ballots for the candidate who carries the popular vote in their state. But in 2016, seven cast votes for other candidates. Read More
The Trump administration on Monday moved to block a Washington state law that imposed safety restrictions on oil shipments by rail following a string of explosive accidents.Read More
In recent weeks, legislative Republicans have been fiercely critical of Inslee for not moving more aggressively to reopen the economy. They’ve criticized him on social media, joined protests at the Capitol and even filed a lawsuit challenging his emergency powers.Read More
The current estimated unemployment rate far exceeds the 10 percent peak reached in the Great Recession in 2009. It is the most devastating loss of jobs since the Great Depression, when economists estimate the unemployment rate reached 25 percent in 1933. Read More
As some states turn to Internet voting to increase accessibility for vulnerable populations, the federal government sends out an eight-page report detailing the risks.Read More
The pair of cases is the second time in less than a decade that the court has been asked to consider arguments involving discrimination lawsuits from teachers fired by parochial schools.Read More
After months of wrangling following the Russia investigation, prosecutors aren't going ahead with the case based on the former national security adviser's false statements to the FBI.Read More
A former vaccine expert with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) alleges in a whistleblower complaint that he was ousted because his efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic conflicted with those of President Donald Trump and other administration officials.Read More
Trump’s Taxes, Birth Control, ‘Faithless Electors’ Headline Supreme Court’s Historic Phone Arguments
During historic telephonic arguments this week and next, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up major challenges involving access to President Donald Trump’s financial records, birth control health insurance, “faithless electors” in presidential elections and the constitutionality of the federal ban on robocalls, among others.Read More
"Today the world showed extraordinary unity for the common good," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. The U.S. was conspicuously absent from the event.Read More
Dr. Anthony Fauci and other members of the coronavirus task force will testify before a GOP-led Senate committee next week but have been blocked from making similar appearances in the House so far.Read More
Joe Biden asked the secretary of the Senate to find "any and all" documentation of a sexual harassment complaint by former staffer Tara Reade, but the office says such records would be confidential.Read More
For the first time, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has personally responded to an allegation of sexual assault from a former Senate staffer.Read More
Despite a partisan divide over increasing absentee voting, about half of all Republicans support universal access to a mail ballot, according a new Pew Research poll.Read More
Attorney General William Barr on Monday ordered federal prosecutors across the U.S. to identify coronavirus-related restrictions from state and local governments “that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.”Read More
President Trump and others criticized "elite, wealthy institutions" for money allocated to them by a federal package. Read More
Protesters took to the streets and parks in Spokane Wednesday in two events to push back against statewide stay-home measures. One was largely a Tim Eyman campaign event. The other focused on people wanting to be allowed to fish.Read More
As some states move to lift social distancing restrictions, government documents reveal how much more lethal the pandemic could still be without careful mitigation efforts.Read More
While most people and public officials may be complying with Washington's "stay home, stay healthy" orders, not all are. In fact, there’s evidence of growing restlessness with the shutdown of the economy, the skyrocketing job losses and the infringement on normal, daily activities. And in some places there are examples of outright opposition.Read More
Demonstrations from Olympia to Richland in Washington, to Sandpoint to Moscow to Boise in Idaho, have been organized by people flouting social distancing measures put in place for public health and to slow the spread of coronavirus.Read More
Tara Reade, who worked in Joe Biden's Senate office, has accused the presumptive Democratic nominee of a 1993 sexual assault. His campaign said it "absolutely did not happen."Read More
On Friday, three of the four legislative caucuses sent the governor a request that he consider allowing a specific set of businesses to reopen, provided they adhere to strict public health guidelines.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has been called “an example of effective crisis leadership.” Not all Washingtonians agree that Inslee has done well — especially the people who want his job.Read More
The recent stock sales by the North Carolina Republican were a market-beating anomaly that didn't match his typically middling trading history, according to a new Dartmouth College analysis.Read More
The president claimed "total" authority, per unnamed constitutional provisions. Experts remind him he is not a king, and cite Articles I, II, III; the 10th Amendment; and the Founding Fathers.Read More
Ammon Bundy had pledged to hold a nondenominational Easter service in a venue holding up to 1,000 people. In reality on Sunday, a much smaller crowd would turn out at a warehouse he owns in a dusty lot near the Emmett railroad tracks.Read More
But because of COVID-19, Paddy McGuire said Mason County has closed his building and he doesn’t think in-person registration is a safe idea. So, he asked the governor’s office to use its emergency powers to waive the requirement for this election. The answer back, he said, was “no.”Read More
The Vermont senator is exiting the 2020 race, bowing to the commanding delegate lead former Vice President Joe Biden has established.Read More
The party's nominating convention had already been delayed a month, with a possible format change.Read More
In anticipation of state revenues cratering because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday vetoed more than $200 million of new spending from the supplemental budget passed by state lawmakers last month.Read More
A state legislator in North Idaho is using her official government newsletter to urge constituents to defy Gov. Brad Little’s order to stay home in face of the coronavirus pandemic. Rep. Heather Scott, a Republican who represents the Blanchard area, sent the newsletter Thursday morning. It was titled, in part, “the virus that tried to kill the Constitution.”Read More
Trump had initially announced 15-day guidelines and said they would be reevaluated. The 15-day period was set to end Monday.Read More
New York joins over a dozen states that have delayed some elections. A smaller group including Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, Indiana and Kentucky have also postponed their presidential primaries.Read More
The former presidential candidate's campaign had suggested it would create a super PAC to take on President Trump, but it has decided to change course.Read More
A cache of Instagram posts has yielded what researchers call a more up-to-date look at election interference operations. Much of it is familiar but now executed with more sophistication.Read More
