Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney for Washington, was breezing toward the office elevator in his signature trench coat in February when he passed a group of about 10 young prosecutors preparing to leave, framed diplomas and keepsakes in hand.

“Whoa, what’s going on here?” Mr. Martin asked with a chuckle, seemingly oblivious to who they were and where they were going, according to people with knowledge of the exchange.
XXX,XXX,XXX,XXX, The New York Times

Washington joined a coalition of states in suing the Trump administration Monday over the deep cuts and layoffs at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, which they say have torn the department apart, depriving it of the resources needed to do its job.

“Over the course of a few days in late March and early April, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismantled the Department in violation of Congress’s instructions, the U.S. Constitution, and the many statutes that govern the Department’s programs,” the lawsuit, filed in federal District Court in Rhode Island, says.

U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner is planning introductory meetings with staff at the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center and the Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District on Friday, May 9.

The meetings will not be public. Instead, they’re a chance for Baumgartner to get to know the leadership and staff of the agencies, spokesperson Andrew Rolwes said.

The Supreme Court decided Tuesday that the Trump administration may reinstate its ban on transgender people serving in the military, blocking a lower court order out of Washington state. 

The emergency ruling, which was unsigned and did not include a reason for allowing the ban to move forward, takes immediate effect and will remain in place while legal challenges proceed. 

When former Gov. Jay Inslee was reminded that he was the “last” Democrat to represent the now-reliably Republican 4th Congressional District, Inslee was quick to interject.

“Not the last, just the most recent,” he said prior to a town hall in Yakima April 9. “There will be more.”

In February, the Walla Walla County Rural Library District was awarded six grants of up to $1,000 for district employees’ professional development.

Then on March 14, President Donald Trump signed an executive order deeming the IMLS and six other entities "unnecessary" and eliminating their "non-statutory components and functions ... to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."

For the first 100 days of President Trump’s new term, Kamala Harris drifted into the recesses of political defeat back home in Los Angeles. She mulled her thoughts and pondered whether to run for California governor but, noticeably, said little about the president.

It wasn’t until Wednesday night that the former vice president waded back into the conversation with an affirmation of Democratic frustrations, in a speech that her camp had billed as her most extensive remarks since leaving Washington after losing her bid for the White House.

An appellate court has sent an Open Public Meetings Act case back to the Walla Walla County Superior Court to nullify actions taken by the Board of County Commissioners at a special meeting on Jan. 7, 2021.

The appellate court sided with Walla Walla County resident R.L. McFarland, who filed the lawsuit against the county and then-Commissioners Gregory Tompkins, Todd Kimball and Jenny Mayberry in 2022.