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Jacob Fischler

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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.

Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, said he told U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine he should "step aside." In this photo, Sanders, right, rallies with Platner in Portland on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
National

With control of US Senate in play, national Dems rush to dump Maine’s Platner

3:52pm ET
Jacob Fischler
A host of high-profile Democrats called for Graham Platner, the party’s nominee to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in November’s election, to drop out of the race as they tried to save the party’s chances to...
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 29, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Nerwsroom)
National

US Supreme Court upholds transgender athlete bans in Idaho, West Virginia

Jun 30, 2026
Jacob Fischler Shauneen Miranda
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday kept in place state laws banning transgender athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams. The decision stems from challenges to bans in Idaho and West Virginia and marks a major...
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former National Security Advisor John Bolton departs U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland after a plea deal hearing on June 26, 2026 in Greenbelt, Maryland. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
National

Former Trump adviser John Bolton pleads guilty to mishandling sensitive documents

Jun 26, 2026
Jacob Fischler
John Bolton, a national security adviser to President Donald Trump in his first term, pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge of mishandling classified information, the Department of Justice said in a news release Friday. The plea resolves an 18-count...
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 29, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom)
National

US Supreme Court hands win to Monsanto in case related to claims Roundup causes cancer

Jun 25, 2026
Jacob Fischler
State courts cannot find liability for labeling shortcomings in pesticides and similar products because such products are covered by federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday in a decision backing agricultural giant Monsanto. The justices, in a 7-2 decision...
Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol on June 24, 2026. The hall was set up for a ceremony in which President Donald Trump would sign into law a broadly bipartisan housing bill, but Trump abruptly canceled the event. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
National

Trump spikes housing bill at last minute, refusing to sign until SAVE America Act passes

Jun 24, 2026
Jacob Fischler Jennifer Shutt
President Donald Trump derailed a housing overhaul that he was set to sign into law Wednesday, canceling a signing ceremony for the broadly popular bipartisan bill until Congress passes an election security measure. Trump had been scheduled to sign the...
The U.S. House passed an affordable housing bill on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, sending it to President Donald Trump’s desk a day after a Senate vote. Trump is expected to sign it into law. (Photo by Grace Cary/Getty Images)
National

Bipartisan affordable housing bill heads to Trump’s desk

Jun 23, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The U.S. House cleared a bipartisan housing policy overhaul Tuesday, aiming to lower the cost of homeownership as members of both parties attempt to focus on affordability issues ahead of November’s midterm elections. The House passed the bill, 358-32, sending...
Maine's Graham Platner is the Democratic candidate for what's considered one of the nation's most competitive battle for the U.S. Senate. Platner, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, is shown at a rally at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland on April 18, 2026. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)
National

Mildly blue or a blue tsunami? 9 states will decide if Dems flip control of U.S. Senate

Jun 18, 2026
Jacob Fischler Jonathan Shorman
Democrats are growing hopeful they can recapture the U.S. Senate in this fall’s midterm elections amid President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval ratings. But they still need nearly everything to break their way against a map that put them at a...
An elections forecaster has moved three U.S. Senate races in the 2026 midterms in Democrats' favor, in Ohio, Alaska and North Carolina. (Getty Images)
National

Strong candidates in Alaska, Ohio seen as moving US Senate races toward Dems

Jun 11, 2026
Jacob Fischler
Democrats’ prospects in a trio of key U.S. Senate races are improving, an influential elections forecaster said Thursday, though Republicans are still favored to retain control of the chamber after the midterm elections. Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which predicts election outcomes...
President Donald Trump speaks during a "Beautiful, Clean Coal" event in the Oval Office of the White House on June 4, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Behind him, left to right, are Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
National

Trump to pump $700M into coal power in the states, as he again blasts renewable energy

Jun 04, 2026
Jacob Fischler
The federal government will spend $700 million on building or refurbishing coal power infrastructure across the country in a boost to “clean, beautiful coal,” President Donald Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office. Trump said he was invoking the Cold...
Donald Trump supporters clash with police and security forces in the attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)
National

Jan. 6 police officers sue Trump over $1.77B ‘taxpayer-funded slush fund’

May 21, 2026
Jacob Fischler
Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sued the Trump administration Wednesday to block the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund to pay people said to be victims of judicial weaponization, saying the fund...
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, left, welcomes U.S. Vice President JD Vance as he arrives at Kansas City International Airport, May 18, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. Vance on his visit pitched voters on keeping Republicans in Congress. (Photo by Eric Lee-Pool/Getty Images)
National

Sagging poll ratings, soaring gas prices put GOP in a fix for keeping US House control

May 21, 2026
Jonathan Shorman Jacob Fischler
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — When Vice President JD Vance pitched voters on electing Republicans to Congress this November during a trip to a Kansas City manufacturing plant on Monday, he delivered the message while standing in a newly gerrymandered U.S...
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, on Feb. 20, 2026. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
National

Trump-appointed FEMA panel urges states should take the lead in disaster recovery

May 07, 2026
Jennifer Shutt Jacob Fischler
WASHINGTON — State governments should shoulder more of the cost and responsibility for natural disaster recovery, according to a report released Thursday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency review council. The board, created by President Donald Trump last year, called...