Local News

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. WASHINGTON — Sen. Patty Murray on Thursday reintroduced a Democratic bill that would require employers to provide up to seven days of paid sick time annually. Murray cosponsored the “Healthy Families Act” with U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, a leading liberal in Congress who has introduced the bill six times since 2004. Estimated 43 million…

WASHINGTON — He’s called it a “witch hunt” that has already wasted millions of taxpayers’ dollars. And on Tuesday, U. S. Rep. Adam Smith of Bellevue used the third public hearing of the Select Committee on Benghazi to once again excoriate House Republicans for their ongoing investigation into the 2012 attacks at the U.S. diplomatic…

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene has been named to President Obama’s Export Council, making the Medina Democrat the second member of Congress from Washington to serve on the advisory panel. The appointment, announced by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, makes DelBene one of about 50 corporate chiefs, administration officials and…

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane Updated at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 23 with comment from Herrera Beutler: WASHINGTON — The anti-abortion bill yanked from a floor vote in the House Thursday still has the support of the chamber’s highest-ranking Republican woman. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Spokane reiterated her support for the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,”…

U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor. Updated at 7:52 a.m. with Sen. Murray’s new subcommittee information: WASHINGTON — The shrunken House Democratic Caucus on Tuesday voted to give a spot on the House Appropriations Committee to  Rep. Derek Kilmer, a move that would give the sophomore lawmaker from Gig Harbor a more direct voice on federal…

Updated at 9:47 a.m. to add Harry Reid as co-sponsor: WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray are taking another stab to make sales-tax deductions a permanent part of the tax code. The two Washington Democrats, along with six seven colleagues, on Thursday evening introduced a bill seeking to end the frequent expirations — and subsequent renewals…

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, new ranking Democrat on Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee WASHINGTON — President Obama has said he will veto it and it may not get built anytime soon even if approved. But the bill to greenlight the Canadian Keystone XL pipeline project passed out of a Senate committee Thursday as the first display…

Rajiv Shah, former Gates Foundation official, is stepping down as head of USAID in February. WASHINGTON — After weeks of batting down rumors of his impending resignation, Rajiv Shah announced Wednesday he will step down as head of the U.S. Agency for International Development in February. Shah, a former Gates Foundation official in Seattle, has…

U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor. WASHINGTON — President Obama hasn’t signed it into law yet. But that didn’t stop U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer Tuesday from trying to strip a controversial provision inserted into the 2015 federal spending bill allowing wealthy donors to give vastly larger sums to national political parties. Kilmer, a freshman Democrat from Gig Harbor, jumped on…

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate voted Thursday to move ahead with the 2015 defense policy bill containing a host of public-lands measures, bringing the expansion of Alpine Lakes Wilderness near Seattle within hours of final passage in Congress. However, retiring Sen. Tom Coburn is vowing to run out the clock with additional 30 hours of debate allowed…