Federal Government

April 2026

April 6, 2026

Trump signs executive order targeting vote-by-mail — Washington, which conducts all elections by mail, faces direct exposure to the order, which directs federal agencies to pressure states toward in-person voting.

March 2026

March 30, 2026

House rejects Senate-passed DHS funding bill — The Senate voted to fund most of DHS but excluded ICE and Border Patrol; House Republicans passed a competing eight-week bill, then both chambers left for two-week recess with the 42-day shutdown unresolved.

March 30, 2026

Pentagon deploys 1,000 troops from 82nd Airborne to Middle East — The deployment adds to the U.S. military buildup in the region amid ongoing war with Iran.

September 2025

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that many of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on foreign goods were unlawful, undercutting one of the central tools of his trade policy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a May decision finding that Trump overstepped his authorit...

Two firefighters were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol during a federal immigration operation at the Bear Gulch wildfire in Olympic National Forest—an unprecedented move that has drawn sharp criticism from fire crews, union leaders, and elected officials in Washington and Oregon. The men, reporte...

August 2025

U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick on Friday widened a court order that bars the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from cities with sanctuary policies, including Seattle. The new ruling extends protections to 34 additional jurisdictions such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Denv...

August 25, 2025

Postal Service fined for hazardous waste at Seattle site — The state Department of Ecology issued a $33,000 penalty after inspectors found repeated violations in storing and disposing of dangerous materials at the Bulk Mail Center.

August 25, 2025

Democratic AGs sue DOJ over crime victim funds — Twenty-one attorneys general, including Washington’s, filed suit to block the federal government from tying $1.4 billion in Victims of Crime Act grants to immigration enforcement.

Gov. Bob Ferguson is rejecting pressure from U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi to roll back Washington’s sanctuary state laws, setting up a clash over immigration enforcement. In an Aug. 13 letter, Bondi warned that Washington’s policies “thwart federal immigration enforcement” and gave ...

August 11, 2025

ICE arrests in Washington double in June — Federal immigration agents detained 275 people statewide, more than twice the typical monthly average, mirroring a national surge in arrests and detentions this summer.