Jacob Fishler head shot

Jacob Fischler

[email protected] https://twitter.com/jacob_fischler https://bsky.app/profile/fischler.bsky.social

Jacob covers federal policy and helps direct national coverage as deputy Washington bureau chief for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.

Before joining States Newsroom, Jacob was a national reporter for CQ Roll Call, where he covered state policy trends and federal-state relations. He also wrote about transportation and infrastructure policy on Capitol Hill for CQRC. He began his career covering local government for The Monitor newspaper in McAllen, Texas.

Originally from Minneapolis, Jacob has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Election worker Davina Trejo carries a box of ballots to her work station at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City as votes are cast in Utah’s primary election on June 25, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch
National

Trump DOJ uses case of Utah letter carrier to highlight allegations of voting fraud

Sep 22, 2026
Jacob Fischler
Federal officials charged a Utah letter carrier Tuesday with throwing 300 primary ballots in a church parking lot dumpster, an incident that a top U.S. Justice Department official said made the case for stricter regulations of voting. The prosecution of...
Voters at Deering High School in Portland cast their ballot in Maine’s June 9, 2026 primary election. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)
National

With vote-by-mail court fight settled, attention shifts to protections at the polls

Sep 17, 2026
Jacob Fischler
Voting rights groups and Democratic officials are looking to defend against what they see as possible election interference from the Trump administration ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, now that they’ve won a major battle over mail ballots. Common Cause...
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks about the administration’s crackdown on fraud during a Sept. 14, 2026, news conference at the FBI field office in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
National

Attorney general defends Trump blast at US Supreme Court over vote-by-mail ruling

Sep 15, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The Trump administration will comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s order this week blocking new restrictions on mail voting for this year’s elections, but President Donald Trump was right to attack the ruling, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said during...
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom)
National

US Supreme Court blocks Trump rule limiting mail voting, sides with Dem states

Sep 14, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday kept in place a lower court’s order blocking President Donald Trump’s embattled plan to place new restrictions on mail ballots for this year’s midterm elections. The unsigned, one-paragraph order upheld a Massachusetts federal court’s...
eorgia Power’s Plant Bowen, a coal-fired power station in Bartow County, Georgia, on July 28,2026. (Photo by Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder)
National

Trump EPA to strip greenhouse gas limits for power plants, a key Biden climate policy

Sep 14, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will revoke limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that run on coal and natural gas, according to regulatory documents Administrator Lee Zeldin signed Monday. The administration framed the action to repeal 2024 limits...
An analysis found more than 2 million voters cast mail ballots in Michigan in 2024. Nearly half came from Democrats, while Republicans sent 39%, a difference of about 200,000 votes in Democrats’ favor. In this photo, voters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, cast their ballots during the state’s August 2024 primary. (Photo by Matt Vasilogambros/Stateline)
National

Trump plan to limit mail voting hinders Democrats more than GOP, analysis finds

Sep 11, 2026
Jacob Fischler
President Donald Trump has, at times, justified his campaign against mail-in voting in explicitly partisan terms, claiming Republicans’ electoral chances hinge on whether the practice is allowed. A new analysis from a Democratic-aligned voting rights group, shared first with States...
People vote in a special election to replace Mikie Sherrill in the House of Representatives in Morristown, New Jersey, on Feb. 5, 2026. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
National

Trump plan would bar millions of Americans from voting by mail, states tell Supreme Court

Sep 09, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The Democratic-led states and voting rights groups suing to block enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order to restrict mail-in voting warned in briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday the policy would have disastrous consequences for the upcoming...
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 9, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
National

Trump doesn’t have the power to limit mail-in voting, lawmakers tell US Supreme Court

Sep 08, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The hotly contested U.S. Postal Service rule restricting mail-in voting usurps Congress’ authority, as well as states’ power to administer elections, more than 250 current and former members of Congress said in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court on...
Election workers sort ballots at Contra Costa County's election operations facility on May 27, 2026 in Martinez, California. (Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)
National

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow Postal Service vote-by-mail rule

Sep 04, 2026
Jacob Fischler
A U.S. Postal Service rule restricting mail-in voting, like the executive order from President Donald Trump that spurred it, is unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said in a Friday order extending a freeze on the policy. The Trump administration...
he U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom)
National

US Supreme Court again urged to permit Trump vote-by-mail restrictions

Sep 03, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to overturn a lower court and allow it to enforce a U.S. Postal Service rule restricting mail-in voting. The trial judge, Indira Talwani of the U.S. District of Massachusetts, prejudged...
A Utah County election worker picks up mailed ballots from the United States Postal Service office on Oct. 26, 2020 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
National

Why the rushed Postal Service plan for mail-in voting has states in a panic

Sep 02, 2026
Jacob Fischler
President Donald Trump’s executive order placing new restrictions on mail-in voting would assign state officials a Herculean task to reach compliance before the crucial midterm elections. The order directed the U.S. Postal Service to strictly regulate the envelope design of...
A U.S. Postal Service whistleblower in a report released Sept. 1, 2026, alleged that USPS rushed the development of electronic tools to comply with a Trump administration policy placing new restrictions on mail-in voting. (Photo by Simone Hogan/Getty Images)
National

USPS whistleblower predicts ‘catastrophic’ effect on elections under Trump vote-by-mail order

Sep 01, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The U.S. Postal Service rushed the development of electronic tools to comply with a Trump administration policy placing new restrictions on mail-in voting, and defied a court order to stop work on the system, according to an explosive whistleblower complaint...