Covering the other Washington for @SpokesmanReview | 2026 Chair, Standing Committee of Correspondents | Long-suffering Mariners and Canucks fan
Concrete, WA → Baltimore, MD
Joined October 2008
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Five years after the VA launched a new computer system in Spokane, @desmondbutler and I found the $10 billion Oracle EHR is still beset with problems, as the Trump administration gears up to launch it at 13 more hospitals in 2026.
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washingtonpost.com/investiga…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
Merrill College students know their rights as journalists.
"Cat Murphy is a master's student at the University of Maryland, credentialed as a reporter for our Capital News Service and doing the job we teach our students to do. Cat recorded openly in a public space alongside other news outlets, and that is her legal right," Dean Rafael Lorente (@DeanLorente) said. "I'm proud of how she handled herself in a difficult situation."
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
Republican Rep. Andy Harris incorrectly told a reporter they were breaking the law as the reporter and others recorded an exchange with him last night.
Harris had just wrapped up a debate with Democratic challenger Dan Schwartz.
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
An award-winning ESPN producer resigned after 24 years over the network's embrace of sports betting: “I’m not going to work for a gambling company and have blood on my hands.” cjr.org/the-interview/nicole…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
!! Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (running for Re-Elect): “The conflict in Iran has run up the price of gas and diesel, and this all needs to end…”
“The conflict in Iran has run up the price of gas and diesel, and this all needs to end,” Sen. Jim Risch told me. “Once the conflict is over, it’s going to come down rather quickly.”
His opponent, Todd Achilles, told me Risch should do more to end it.
spokesman.com/stories/2026/o…
“The conflict in Iran has run up the price of gas and diesel, and this all needs to end,” Sen. Jim Risch told me. “Once the conflict is over, it’s going to come down rather quickly.”
His opponent, Todd Achilles, told me Risch should do more to end it.
spokesman.com/stories/2026/o…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
Worth a watch:
@RobbieGramer who covers national security on my team went back to his home state of Idaho
He looks at the political landscape there and what the tug of war within the GOP in that state means for the broader US:
wsj.com/politics/i-went-back…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
We heard this in 2018, but it wasn't even close.
National Democrats target Eastern WA House race as winnable seattletimes.com/seattle-new… via @seattletimes
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
DCCC tapped WA-05 as a “race in play,” signaling that the party views an opportunity to flip a House seat in Eastern Washington — a reliably Republican stretch of the state that sent Rep. Michael Baumgartner to the Capitol in 2024: seattletimes.com/seattle-new…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
How Rob Curley’s plan to make the Spokesman-Review ‘The People’s Paper’ ended in a newsroom revolt
Reported in collaboration with RANGE:
investigatewest.org/rob-curl…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
Scoop: Congressional staffers planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France 2 weeks before election
The weeklong bipartisan trip — which included visits to a Ferrari factory, luxury brands in Milan or Florence & day trips to the Champagne wine region — was to be led by a top aide to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
It was canceled TODAY after @NBCNews asked about the itinerary. nbcnews.com/politics/congres…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
House lawmakers need a raise, but know it would look bad. But a recent expense program is giving most members an average of a 10% bump.
bostonglobe.com/2026/09/30/n…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
so much in one sentence.
New: Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-boyfriend and former bodyguard said he threw her paintings into her swimming pool in part because he felt disillusioned by her relationship with a major U.S. Artificial Intelligence software developer amid the war in Gaza
azcentral.com/story/news/pol…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
Remember when Tim Walz started calling Trump “weird” and Democrats really thought it was clever and effective?
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
Oh man the influencer instruction emails went out BEFORE the testimony 😂☠️
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
A phenomenal moment in the Senate.
Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta.
Smith denies it.
Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury.
Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland.
Watch the whole thing:
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
There's no shortage of reasons why the 2026 Mariners disappointed, but also:
- slowest team in baseball, 2026
- one of the five weakest defensive teams since 2016
That's a tough way to win.
baseballsavant.mlb.com/leade…
Reinforces my long-running, low-level beef with certain members of Congress for not washing their hands after using the bathroom.
Peed myself silly reading this @emilyykennard story on the private bathroom used by House members
And — guess what — House dudes are not washing their hands washingtonsun.com/congress/h…
Orion Donovan Smith retweeted
Opinion: Liberal Democrats gutted California’s CARE court, so homeless addicts just say ‘no'
Read to the end for a truly gutting kicker sacbee.com/opinion/article31…
