Cathy McMorris Rodgers

(Runtime :54)A recent Washington law won’t allow new animal-tested products to be sold in the state.Many products such as makeup and lotions are already…

(Runtime 1:02)At a Congressional hearing in Richland, Wash., designed to defend the four Lower Snake River dams against calls for removal, a panel of nine…

(Runtime 1:04)Pushing for renewable energy policy, and questioning the influence of social media on youth are two of the biggest areas of focus for…

(Runtime: 1:05)If U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is appointed as the new head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, she said she has big plans for…

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.

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.

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.

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.

Washington’s U.S. senators say they’ve asked President Joe Biden to approve a major disaster declaration for eastern Washington towns that were burned by wildfires last fall. Those include the Whitman County town of Malden, which lost about 80% of its homes.

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.