Murray

Ashley Murray

[email protected] https://twitter.com/Ashley__Murray https://bsky.app/profile/ashleymurray.bsky.social

Ashley Murray is a journalist based in Washington, D.C. Her coverage areas include domestic policy and appropriations.

She has roots in Pittsburgh, Pa., where she began her first paid journalism gig in 2010 as a contributor to the local public radio show The Allegheny Front. Her bylines include Pittsburgh City Paper, Trib Total Media, Pittsburgh Quarterly and Salon.com.

Most recently, Ashley worked as the D.C. Bureau Chief for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was also a member of the investigations team and the newspaper's city hall reporter for three years. Ashley was part of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize winning team for breaking news coverage of the mass shooting at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 worshippers were killed.

Vicki Wanamaker, left, and Cathy Mager, right, talked in Wanamaker's Springdale, Pennsylvania, home on Oct. 19, 2026, about their opposition to a proposed hyperscale data center roughly a quarter mile away. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
National

‘We don’t want it’: Voter backlash against data centers consumes midterm elections

Oct 23, 2026
Ashley Murray
SPRINGDALE, Pa. — Residents in a small southwestern Pennsylvania town are facing the prospect of a 47-acre data center facility on their doorstep. “Right here behind this fence is where they want to put up the data center, and as...
Bishop William Barber, of Repairers of the Breach, spoke alongside voting rights advocates from Common Cause, the ACLU, Indivisible, State Voices and others, at a press conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
National

The next act for the No Kings movement: Early voting in the midterms

Oct 14, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — The No Kings movement that has brought millions to the streets across the United States three times since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term is staging its next event at the polls. Organizers across hundreds of...
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., looks on during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
National

Democrats aiming for control of Congress vow action on healthcare, cost of living, Iran war

Oct 14, 2026
Shauneen Miranda Ariana Figueroa Ashley Murray Jonathan Shorman
WASHINGTON — Democrats are touting an ambitious legislative agenda centered on affordability and accountability if they take back the U.S. House or Senate — or both — in November. A slew of pressing policy debates are on tap for Democrats...
The White House, south facing, on June 11, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
National

Trump administration appeals judge's order blocking White House ban of 3 news outlets

Oct 14, 2026
Ashley Murray Jane Norman
WASHINGTON — A federal judge late Tuesday extended a block on a Trump administration ban of press passes for three news organizations, which will allow them to continue to enter the White House grounds while a legal challenge to the...
Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota speaks during a rally in support of Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., outside a federal courthouse in Newark, New Jersey, on Oct. 21, 2025. She is flanked by Democratic Reps. Sara Jacobs of California, left, and Jasmine Crockett of Texas, right. (Photo by Reena Rose Sibayan/New Jersey Monitor)
National

US House Dem leaders condemn Homeland Security raid on home of Rep. Ilhan Omar

Oct 12, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders in the U.S. House condemned a “deeply disturbing” raid early Monday at the District of Columbia home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who has long been a target of verbal attacks by President Donald...
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., speaks during a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing while a poster is displayed purporting to show text messages between former special counsel Jack Smith and security personnel about his attendance at an Atlanta Hawks NBA game. Smith actually had attended a University of Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball game. (Screenshot from Judiciary Committee webcast)
National

US Senate Dems demand apology from Chuck Grassley to Jack Smith for attacks at hearing

Oct 08, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is demanding his colleagues across the aisle apologize to former special counsel Jack Smith after Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt launched false accusations at a recent hearing and called the...
President Donald Trump spoke before a friendly crowd at Wheeler High School near Marietta on July 22, 2026. Trump spoke about Trump Accounts for children and railed against his political opponents. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
National

Trump auto-enrolls 10s of millions in child investment accounts

Oct 07, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — Every child in the United States with a valid Social Security number is now enrolled in a tax-advantaged investment account, titled a “Trump Account,” President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. Parents must claim the accounts by downloading a Trump...
Voters angry over the rising cost of groceries and other items due to tariffs could be expressing their dissatisfaction in the midterm elections, polls show. (Photo by Ming Tang Tung/Getty Images)
National

Voters in midterm elections identify a culprit for rising cost of living: Trump’s tariffs

Oct 08, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — Rebecca Myers lives in one of the nation’s most hotly contested congressional districts, and tariffs were on her mind as she voted early and in-person in Suffolk, Virginia in late September. The 44-year-old trained social worker said she...
A Republican-led bill to curb congressional stock trading panned by Democrats as too weak failed to advance in the U.S. Senate on Sept. 30, 2026, when lawmakers stayed solidly within party lines for a procedural vote. (Photo by Douglas Rissing/Getty Photos)
National

US Senate Dems block bill curbing congressional stock trading, calling it too weak

Sep 30, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans did not gain any support Wednesday from Democrats as they attempted to advance a bill that mashed together two hot-button midterm issues: requiring voter ID in federal elections and limiting stock trading for members of...
Former Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith testifies before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 29, 2026. (Screenshot from committee webcast)
National

GOP senator bungles accusation against former special counsel Jack Smith in heated hearing

Sep 29, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday defended before a U.S. Senate panel his past investigations of President Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents and alleged role in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Judiciary Committee Republicans...
Swatch watches are on display in a Swatch store on April 03, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida. The Swiss company is expecting to have to react to new tariffs put in place by the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump declared a U.S. economic emergency and announced sweeping tariffs of at least 10%, with rates even higher for 60 countries that have a high trade deficit with the U.S. The tariffs will affect electronics, automobiles, clothing and shoes, wines and spirits, and Swiss watches. (Photo by Joe Raedl
National

Trump used impossible foreign labor standards as tariff workaround, small businesses say

Sep 28, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — Small businesses will once again challenge President Donald Trump’s tariffs in federal court this week as they continue to feel the squeeze of the administration’s roller coaster policy on import taxes. Spice importer Burlap & Barrel and rare...
(Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
National

Democrats gain 4 in US Senate GOP on Iran war resolution, but vote falls short

Sep 24, 2026
Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — Despite skyrocketing fuel prices and sinking approval ratings for President Donald Trump’s conflict in Iran ahead of the November midterms, Senate Republicans blocked Democrats’ efforts Thursday to check the president’s unfettered military action in the Middle East. Sens...