Dan Newhouse Archives | Northwest Public Broadcasting

One Idea To Remove Snake River Dams May Be Dead In The Water. Inslee And Murray Oppose It

By Courtney Flatt May 14, 2021

Tribal canoeists on the Memorial Bridge in Lewiston, Idaho, on the Clearwater River just before the confluence with the Snake River. The group joined the larger Free the Snake "flotilla" demonstration, Sept. 7-8, 2018. CREDIT: MIKE BEISER

A wide-ranging proposal to save wild salmon by removing the four Lower Snake River dams may be dead in the water. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray say any proposal for the controversial dams needs a “science-based,” “community-driven” approach. Read More

Loren Culp, Former GOP Gubernatorial Candidate, To Run For Congress Against Dan Newhouse

By Scott Leadingham April 21, 2021

Republican candidate for Washington governor Loren Culp speaks at a protest rally in May 2020. CREDIT: Austin Jenkins/N3

On Wednesday, the Seattle Times reported former Republican gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp filed paperwork to run against incumbent Rep. Dan Newhouse. Along with his fellow Washington Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, Newhouse was among 10 House GOP members who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in January. Read More

After Dan Newhouse Voted To Impeach Trump, Conservatism In Central Washington Is Being Redefined

By NWPB News March 21, 2021

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., speaks as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. CREDIT: House TV-AP

When Rep. Dan Newhouse broke with his party to vote to impeach President Trump, critics started to question his Conservative credentials. The state GOP condemned the impeachment vote, and Republican Party chairs in Grant, Benton, Franklin, Yakima, Adams, and Douglas counties demanded his resignation. Read More

Newhouse And McMorris Rodgers Seek To Boost Hydropower After Idaho Rep’s Dam Removal Idea

By Courtney Flatt March 5, 2021

In this May 15, 2019 the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River is seen from the air near Colfax, Wash. In early 2021, Republican Congressman Mike Simpson of Idaho proposed removing four hydroelectric dams on the Lower Snake River in Washington as part of a sweeping plan to save salmon populations and provide aid to farmers and others. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren

Republicans Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers have long championed dams. This is their second go at passing legislation that would reclassify hydropower as a renewable energy source. That’s important, Newhouse says, because hydropower can generate energy when wind and solar farms might be offline. Read More

Idaho Congressman Hopes Politics Align In Proposal To Remove Snake River Dams In Washington

By NWPB News February 16, 2021

This month, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho issued a bold plan that called for removing those same dams to save the salmon. In between those two acts were decades of litigation that show no sign of ending and $17 billion worth of improvements to the dams that did little to help fish. Read More

Idaho Congressman Proposes $33.5 Billion Plan For Breaching Snake River Dams In Washington

By NWPB News February 8, 2021

A $33.5 billion stimulus package would breach the four dams by 2031. Much of the funding would go toward solutions for what would be lost, including hydropower, less access to irrigation, grain transportation and economic development for Lewiston and the Tri-Cities. Read More

Central Washington GOP Leaders Demand Dan Newhouse Resign Over Impeachment Vote

By NWPB News January 26, 2021

Most of the Republican county leaders in U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse’s congressional district on Monday called for the lawmaker to resign for being one of 10 GOP members of the House to vote for the impeachment of former President Donald Trump. Newhouse said he will not resign. Read More

What’s Next For Dan Newhouse And Jaime Herrera Beutler After They Voted To Impeach Trump?

By NWPB News January 21, 2021

Final vote tally from CSPAN to impeach president Trump

Observers say the votes to impeach from U.S. Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse signal a ‘civil war’ playing out within the GOP nationwide. Continue Reading What’s Next For Dan Newhouse And Jaime Herrera Read More

2 Washington Republicans Join Democrats In Voting For Impeachment

By NWPB News January 13, 2021

Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler spoke on the U.S. House floor on Jan. 6, 2021, after the mob attack on the Capitol, arguing against objections to the Electoral College certification in Congress. CREDIT: CSPAN/Screenshot

The U.S. House voted 232 to 197 Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time. Democrats were joined by 10 congressional Republicans – including two from Washington state. Continue Reading 2 Washington Republicans Join Read More

McMorris Rodgers Reverses Course, More Reactions From Northwest Lawmakers On Capitol Violence

By NWPB News January 6, 2021

Protesters gesture to U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside of the Senate chamber inside the Capitol on Wednesday. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) later released a statement: "What we have seen today is unlawful and unacceptable. I have decided I will vote to uphold the Electoral College results and I encourage Donald Trump to condemn and put an end to this madness.” Read More

Dams, Salmon, Wolves: How Key Issues Played Out In Eastern Washington Congressional Races

By Courtney Flatt November 3, 2020

Elliott Moffett, a member of the Nez Perce Indian tribe, holds a sign that reads Free The Snake as he takes part in a rally organized by a coalition of environmental and tribal groups to promote the breaching of dams on the Snake River and other measures intended to benefit salmon and orcas. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

The campaigning is done. Now what's left is the counting. Here is how candidates in Washington’s 4th and 5th Congressional districts have talked about key environmental and natural resource issues during the campaign. Continue Read More

Wolves Will Lose Federal Protections In The Northwest, Conservation Groups Vow A Fight

By Courtney Flatt October 29, 2020

A wolf from the Snake River Pack passes by a remote camera in eastern Wallowa County, Ore. A wolf advocate group in Colorado is challenging the model for U.S. wildlife management. CREDIT: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP

The federal government says it will remove endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Lower 48. The move will reduce protections for the predators in the western two-thirds of Washington and Oregon. Continue Read More

The Fight Over Washington’s Snake River Dams Is Likely Heading Back To Court

By Courtney Flatt October 24, 2020

Protesters call for the removal of dams on the Snake River to help salmon spawn — and consequently feed Puget Sound orcas. The protest came outside a meeting of the governor’s orca task force in Wenatchee on Tuesday. CREDIT: ELLIS O'NEILL/KUOW/EARTHFIX

The fight over salmon and dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers could be headed back to the courtroom. Conservation and fishing groups say the federal government’s newest plans to manage dams and protect salmon is inadequate. Now, they’re ready to sue. Read More

Interior Secretary: Grizzlies Will Not Be Brought Back To Washington’s North Cascades

By Courtney Flatt July 7, 2020

Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. . CREDIT: U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

Conservation groups have said they are “weighing options” about what to do next. Ranching and cattle groups applauded the decision, saying more predators present challenges for their members. Continue Reading Interior Read More

Columbia River Treaty Renegotiation Brings Out Crowd And Contention In Tri-Cities

By Courtney Flatt December 17, 2019

Mica Dam in British Columbia is one of three Canadian projects built under the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty. CREDIT: DAR56 - TINYURL.COM/YC4K2DTJ

The Columbia River Treaty is costing U.S. ratepayers and public utility districts too much. That was the broad sentiment at a sometimes-tense town hall Monday about ongoing treaty negotiations. At the Richland meeting Monday night, negotiating officials laid out the complicated back-and-forth between the U.S. and Canada. Read More

U.S. House Passes Bipartisan Bill For Relief To Undocumented Farmworkers, Farmers Short On Labor

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa December 13, 2019

Sarbanand Farms farmworkers demonstrate after coworker's death in August 2017.

The possible impeachment of President Donald Trump is not the only thing moving through the U.S. House of Representatives. On Wednesday, the House passed a bipartisan bill that could give undocumented farmworkers a path to legal residence and relief to farmers short on labor. Read More

Conservationists Worry As U.S. House Votes To End Wolf Protections, Senate to Consider

By Courtney Flatt November 16, 2018

The U.S. House passed a bill Friday that would end federal protections for gray wolves in the Lower 48 states. For wolves in the Northwest, that would mean protections fall to state agencies. Continue Reading Read More

Can Dams And Salmon Coexist? Congressional Hearing In Pasco Highlights Difference On Both Sides

By Anna King September 10, 2018

In the past few days, dam advocates and people who want more wild salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers have been putting on their best shows. At the U.S. House committee hearing on Monday, dam advocates gave the bulk of the testimony. Read More

Bill Protecting Lower Snake River Dams In Washington Passes U.S. House, Moves To Senate

By Tony Schick April 25, 2018

Fish advocates say sending water through spill bays is the best way to ensure fish survival through dams in the Columbia and Snake rivers. CREDIT: CASSANDRA PROFITA

The U.S. House passed has approved a bill that would circumvent a federal judge’s order for dams on the lower Snake River to spill more water and protect current dam operations through the next four years. It was sponsored and pushed by two Washington state Republicans. Read More