Congressional Quarterly

Editor, Roll Call

Expertise: Congress: a 30,000-foot Perspective

Charlie oversees a staff of a dozen editors, 30 reporters, and a still- and video-photography team that offers 24/7 coverage of Capitol Hill people and politics, online and in a four-days-a-week newspaper. Mitchell's focus is on investigative and explanatory journalism: why Congressional leaders are making moves; are Members of Congress violating the rules; and what comes next in the political arena.

Charlie previously served nine years as a managing editor and senior editor of National Journal's CongressDaily. He has written extensively on Congressional leadership battles, lobbying and ethics, and campaign finance. He co-authored National Journal's "Week on the Hill" feature and wrote about campaign finance reform and other issues for the magazine. Prior to joining National Journal Group, he spent eight years as a reporter, editor and publisher for Inside Washington Publishers, one of Washington's premier training grounds for journalists. In late 1994 he founded and developed Inside Washington Publishers' weekly report on the inner workings of the then-new Republican Congressional majority.

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Deputy Editor, Roll Call

Expertise: Congress: a 30,000-foot Perspective

In her role as Deputy Editor, Ms. Billings is the primary editor in charge of the publication's print and online news content. She oversees the House, Senate and White House reporting teams.

Before shifting to a full-time editor role two years ago, Ms. Billings spent a dozen years working as a political reporter. She joined Roll Call's staff in 2001 as a staff writer and in 2004 became a senior writer covering House and Senate leadership. Prior to joining Roll Call, Ms. Billings worked as a statehouse reporter in Helena, Mont., where she covered the legislature, state government and campaigns for four daily newspapers.

ON-Air Appearances: Ms. Billings appears regularly on Fox and MSNBC, and occasionally on CNN. She is a frequent guest on Roll Call TV, and has done numerous radio interviews, including with ABC, CBS and NPR affiliates.

Most recent appearance:

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Associate Editor, Roll Call

Expertise: Ethics, Campaign & Member Finance

Paul Singer is an investigative reporter for Roll Call, a position he has held since February 2007. His coverage areas include: lobbying, fundraising and money in politics; ethics rules; personal finances of Members of Congress; and general corruption and malfeasance. He has written extensively about Member's funneling federal money to their personal interests, misusing their official accounts and supporting legislation closely tied to their personal friends, family and/or political supporters.

Prior to joining Roll Call, Singer was the executive branch correspondent for National Journal. He spent most of 2006 covering the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, and investigated the distribution of more than $100 billion dollars of hurricane relief money approved by Congress.

In prior incarnations, Singer has served as head of the Cleveland Bureau of the Associated Press, where he covered the corruption trial of then-Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio), and as White House Correspondent for United Press International. In 2000, working for UPI, Singer traveled extensively with the campaign of Vice President Al Gore, and covered the disputed presidential election returns from a Tallahassee motel room.

Singer also teaches journalism in the master's program in Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies.

ON-Air Appearances: Singer has appeared on CNN, the Fox News Channel, C-SPAN, PBS, Wisconsin Public Radio, BBC radio and various local radio stations around the country. He recently worked with ABC News to turn one of his Roll Call stories into a segment that aired on Good Morning America.

Most recent appearance:

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: Life on Capitol Hill

Heil came to Roll Call from The Hill newspaper, where she wrote the Under the Dome gossip column. Prior to that, she spent three years covering Congress for National Journal's CongressDaily, where her beats included health care and labor issues. Previous journalism jobs included chief congressional correspondent for the Bureau of National Affairs and reporter for the Eastern Shore News.

A native of Virginia's Eastern Shore, Heil is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she was features editor of the independent newspaper, the Cavalier Daily.

ON-Air Appearances: Heil has a weekly segment on FOXNews.com called "The Beltway Buzz" and frequently appears on MSNBC. She also regularly appears in outlets including FOX News, CNN, and C-SPAN.

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: Capitol Hill Gossip

Elizabeth writes the "Heard on the Hill" gossip column for Roll Call, where she chronicles the crazy antics, wild cocktail parties, bad fashion and simply odd moments that make Capitol Hill so unique. Brotherton also frequently pens feature stories that chronicle the culture of Washington.

Prior to her current beat, Brotherton reported a range of topics for Roll Call, including the Capitol Police, D.C. voting rights movement, legislative branch appropriations and the Green the Capitol Initiative.

Her work has appeared in the Almanac of the Unelected, Orange County Register and Press-Enterprise. A Golden State native, she graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in journalism and political science.

ON-Air Appearances: Brotherton has appeared on television outlets such as MSNBC, Fox 5 News and the Comcast Network, and provided commentary for several syndicated radio programs.

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: Capitol Hill Gossip

Alison McSherry is an award winning journalist and one half of Roll Call's "Heard on the Hill" column where she reports on gossip on and off Capitol Hill. McSherry specializes in a variety of topics including, but not limited to, Members of Congress, social happenings in D.C. and restaurant openings. In addition to "Heard on the Hill," she also pens the reoccurring Congressional profile series "Office Space" and the bar column "Mug Shots."

She has been covering Congress for over four years. McSherry began her career with CQ-Roll Call Group covering the Senate and later went on to act as the paper's chief feature writer before joining the HOH team.

She hails from the Jersey Shore and holds a bachelors degree from Monmouth University.

Recent videos:

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: House Republicans

Jackie joined Roll Call in December 2008 and currently covers House leadership. Before joining Roll Call, she covered House Republicans for The Hill newspaper. Her byline has appeared in Capitol File Magazine, the Washington City Paper, CQ Politics and Washingtonian magazine. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, Kucinich covered local politics in Maryland for the Prince George's Sentinel. Kucinich, a native of Columbus Ohio, received her B.A. degree in communication from American University.

ON-Air Appearances: She has been a guest on MSNBC, FOX News, C-Span and ABC7 in addition to several local and national radio stations. In 2008, she co-hosted "Capitol Hill Blues" on XM radio's POTUS channel.

Most recent appearance:

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: Senate Leadership

Emily Pierce is a senior staff writer at Roll Call, where she has worked since 2003 covering Senate leadership and policy issues. Emily also writes the award-winning Roadmap column that appears in Roll Call every Tuesday.

Before her stint at Roll call, Emily worked for six years as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly. At CQ, Emily covered banking and technology policy, campaigns and elections, as well as Senate leadership.

A native of Georgia, Emily graduated from American University.

ON-Air Appearances: She has been a guest on CSPAN, CSPAN radio, ABC radio, Sirius-XM radio, FOX and various public radio stations.

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: Senate

Jessica Brady is a staff writer at Roll Call and covers the Senate. She has particular expertise on the nominations process and has broken stories about the embattled confirmation of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Wall Street reform debate earlier this year.

Prior to joining the leadership team in 2008, Jessica profiled elected officials and wrote human interest stories as Roll Call’s features writer. She previously worked as a reporter for National Journal's CongressDaily and also spent time as a researcher for the Almanac of American Politics.

Jessica is a graduate of the University of Iowa.

ON-Air Appearances: Jessica's network appearances include interviews on MSNBC, CNBC, C-SPAN and C-SPAN radio. She also has moderated panels at the National Press Club, where she serves on the board of governors.

Most recent appearance:

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: Lobbying, Campaign finance issues, Fund raising

Before joining Roll Call, Matt was a deputy editor at Congressional Quarterly and completed internships at USA Today, Roll Call and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Matt is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and the University of Missouri.

ON-Air Appearances: He has appeared on C-SPAN, MSNBC, XM Radio, the Comcast Network and the nationally syndicated John Batchelor Show.

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: Lobbying

Anna covers lobbying as a staff writer for Roll Call newspaper. Palmer came to Roll Call from Legal Times, where she spent three years covering the intersection of money and politics. Prior to that, she covered the lobbying industry for the business newsletter Influence. A native of North Dakota, Palmer is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where she was executive editor of the weekly newspaper, the Manitou Messenger.

ON-Air Appearances: Palmer has appeared on numerous cable news and radio programs, including Fox News' Fox and Friends and On the Record with the Greta Van Susteren. She has also done several national radio interviews as a political analyst for programs such as the John Batchelor show.

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: Senate leadership

David M. Drucker is based in Washington, D.C., and is a staff writer for Roll Call. Drucker covers the U.S. Senate and broad, national political trends for Roll Call, a widely read and influential inside-the-Beltway publication that focuses on the inner workings of Congress.

A Malibu, Calif., native, Drucker came to Roll Call in August 2005 from the Sacramento, Calif., bureau of the Los Angeles Daily News, where he covered the politics and policy of California government, including the historic 2003 gubernatorial recall campaign that saw Arnold Schwarzenegger advance to the governor's office.

Drucker graduated from UCLA in June, 2001 with a BA in history, and before returning to UCLA in 2000, spent eight years working in sales and marketing.

ON-Air Appearances: Drucker regularly appears on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, and has been on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, as well as numerous talk radio shows.

Most recent appearance:

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: White House

Jennifer Bendery is Roll Call’s White House Correspondent. Prior to taking over the beat in January 2010, she covered House and Senate leadership for three years. Bendery’s other experience includes four years of reporting on the Texas State Legislature for GalleryWatch in Austin, Texas, and three years of covering health care policy for a number of national, weekly newsletters based in Providence, Rhode Island. She also worked in marketing for the San Francisco offices of book publisher John Wiley & Sons.

ON-Air Appearances: Bendery has appeared on C-SPAN, Roll Call TV, ABC Radio, P.O.T.U.S. on Sirius XM Radio, The John Batchelor Show and WDEL Radio.

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: House leadership

Kate Hunter is part of Roll Call's House leadership reporting team and writes about politically contentious topics ranging from repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy to immigration to the latest developments in the flap over whether the White House offered Rep. Joe Sestak a job to discouraging him from challenging incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, whose 2009 party switch. Kate covered in her previous job as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly. At Roll Call, Kate has focused on covering factions within the Democratic caucus, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Progressives and the Blue Dogs, with on emphasis on those groups' interactions with leadership.

Prior to coming to Roll Call in March of 2010, Kate spent four years as a reporter for CQ, the latter two and a half of which she covered Senate leadership, culminating in passage of the Democrats' health care bill. In that role, Kate was responsible for ferreting out and explaining the latest leadership strategy to move legislation through the chamber. She also covered the trial of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and the 2009 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Kate has covered political events across the country, including the 2004 and 2010 Republican National Conventions, the 2005 National Governors Association meeting in Des Moines, Iowa and a multi-state trip in the fall of 2006 with then-Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.

Kate also has worked at Stateline.org, where she covered trends in state policy and politics, and at the Chapel Hill News in North Carolina, where she covered local government. Kate is a 2002 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in journalism and political science and was the 2001-2002 editor-in-chief of the award-winning campus newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel.

ON-Air Appearances: During the health care debate, Kate was a regular guest on CSPAN, including Washington Journal. She also has been a guest on numerous radio shows, including NPR's "All Things Considered."

Most recent appearance:

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Staff Writer, Roll Call

Expertise: House leadership

Steven Dennis has covered House leadership for Roll Call since 2007. Prior to that, he covered budget and appropriations for Congressional Quarterly starting in 2005. Before covering Congress, he covered state and local politics in Maryland at The Gazette of Politics and Business, The Montgomery Gazette, and The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown. He is a 1994 graduate from the University of Maryland's College of Journalism.

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Blogger, CQ Politics

Expertise: Politics

Crawford blogs daily for CQ-Roll Call on a wide range of national issues. His writings appear regularly in newspapers and web sites throughout the country, and his blog features a large community of active participants in its comments sections. He is often featured on a variety of national television and radio programs. With CQ-Roll Call Video Producer Andrew Satter, Craig also presents video commentaries on the web (see Video Trail Mix).

Before joining Congressional Quarterly in 2003, Crawford was Editor-in-Chief of The Hotline, an online news digest that is an institution inside the Beltway and out. Prior to running The Hotline, Crawford was The Orlando Sentinel's Washington Bureau Chief and had been working for the newspaper since 1985 covering legal issues, politics and presidential campaigns.

Crawford practiced law in Florida, specializing in products liability, before becoming a journalist. He also once ran unsuccessfully for a state legislative seat in Orlando (1982), and worked in three Democratic presidential campaigns (1976-84: Jimmy Carter, John Glenn, Walter Mondale), so he has seen both sides of the media and politics world. Although no longer practicing law, Crawford is still a licensed attorney in the Florida Bar.

While in high school, Crawford served as a United States Senate page (1972, appointed by Sen. Ed Gurney, R-Florida) and as a college student worked in the White House Press Office (1977, Carter Administration). He has lived in Washington, DC, since 1989 with his partner, David Blank, and was hailed by The Washington Post as "one of the capital's most celebrated journalists" in a profile published May 18, 2000.

Craig's first book, "Attack the Messenger," published by Rowman & Littlefield, is available in hardcover and paperback on Amazon.com. His second book for Rowman & Littlefield, "The Politics of Life," is available on Amazon.com. His latest book is "Listen Up, President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do" (Scribner 2009), available on Amazon.com.

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Blogger, CQ Politics

Expertise: Politics

Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of "You Won - Now What?" (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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Managing Editor, CQ Weekly

Expertise: Congress: a 30,000-foot Perspective

Hawkings was named to his current post in the fall of 2004 after a decade at CQ. His previous positions at the company include senior editor for legislative affairs; co-editor of "Politics in America," CQ's signature reference work on members of Congress; the Weekly magazine's economics editor and its congressional affairs editor; and managing editor of the CQ Daily Monitor, the predecessor of CQ Today.

A native of New York and a graduate of Bucknell University, before coming to CQ in 1995 he was a correspondent in the Washington Bureau of Thomson Newspapers and a reporter, columnist and editor at The San Antonio Light.

ON-Air Appearances: As a student of the politics and culture of Congress for two decades, Hawkings makes frequent appearances as a guest analyst on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, National Public Radio and the local CBS and Fox affiliates. He has a weekly segment on congressional or political analysis on WAMU, the Washington affiliate of NPR.

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Managing Editor,
Enterprise Reporting,
Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Economics

John Cranford has worked for more than three decades as a reporter and editor, much of that time covering economics and government fiscal and monetary policy.

After graduating from college in 1974 and taking a succession of jobs as a reporter, writer and editor, Cranford joined Congressional Quarterly in 1984. He served as CQ's economics editor for three years before becoming senior economics writer. He covered banking and securities issues during the stock market crash of 1987 and its aftermath, and the savings and loan and banking crises of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is the author of Budgeting for America, a 1989 book on U.S. federal budget policy, published by Congressional Quarterly.

Cranford left CQ in 1996 and for six years was senior economics editor at Bloomberg News, managing coverage of the Federal Reserve, and of economic policy and developments broadly. He returned to CQ in 2003 and currently serves as managing editor for enterprise reporting and writes a weekly column called Political Economy.

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Senior Writer,
Defense & Foreign Policy,
Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Defense, Foreign policy

Since 2004, Donnelly has worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly, where he covers defense and foreign policy issues in Congress and the Pentagon. He is particularly well versed in all the major defense debates—from weapons spending to war policy.

Donnelly previously worked at Defense Week as a reporter and editor. His work there netted him numerous awards for exclusive and investigative reporting.

He has been an officer in the National Press Club since 2001 and he frequently emcees major televised news events, including NPC Luncheons.

ON-Air Appearances: He has appeared on numerous TV news programs, including ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN Washington Journal and Fox5 News in Washington, D.C. He has a weekly spot every Monday morning on NewsChannel8, an all-news ABC affiliate in the capital region. And his work has been cited and quoted on other TV programs, including NBC's Meet the Press.

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Senior Writer, Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Taxes, Economics

Joe Schatz is a senior writer covering economic policy and politics on Capitol Hill, with a focus on trade and tax issues. Joe has covered Congress for a total of more than seven years. In addition to his experience covering Congress, Joe spent more than two years, from 2006 to 2008, covering politics and business in southern Africa.

ON-Air Appearances: Joe appears frequently on CSPAN.

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Senior Writer, Associate Editor,
CQ HealthBeat

Expertise: Health Care

Rebecca Adams is a senior writer and associate editor for CQ HealthBeat. She was a 2003-04 Kaiser Family Foundation journalism fellow, focusing on the coverage of state Medicaid programs. A graduate of Emory University, she previously worked for The Arizona Republic, The Chattanooga Times and The Macon Telegraph. She also has written for publications including The Washington Post and USA Today. Adams has covered domestic policy issues for CQ since January 1998.

ON-Air Appearances: Rebecca has appeared on CSPAN and FOX.

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Staff Writer, CQ-Roll Call Politics

Expertise: Politics

This is McArdle's second election cycle on Roll Call's politics desk after covering Congressional races in Southern and Mid-Atlantic states during the 2008 cycle. McArdle has worked at Roll Call since 2003 and has covered many facets of life on Capitol Hill from the Capitol Police and Congressional security issues to the Library of Congress and the legislative branch appropriations process.

ON-Air Appearances: McArdle has appeared as guest commentator on several major television news programs including CNN's Larry King Live and Fox's On the Record with Greta Van Susteren. He is also a frequent guest on The John Batchelor Show on WABC Radio in New York and Comcast's Roll Call TV. McArdle has made appearances on MSNBC's Hardball, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, C-SPAN's Q & A, and several local television and radio news programs.

Most recent appearance:

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Staff Writer, CQ-Roll Call Politics

Expertise: Politics

Tricia Miller, an Iowa native, covers Midwestern Congressional campaigns for Roll Call. She came to the newspaper in 2008 and has also covered Capitol Hill life. Prior to joining Roll Call, Miller worked as a campaign reporter covering former Sen. John Edwards’ second presidential campaign for NBC and National Journal and as a researcher for the Almanac of American Politics 2008.

ON-Air Appearances: Miller has appeared on MSNBC and XM Radio.

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Staff Writer Defense & Foreign Policy,
Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Defense

Frank has been a defense and foreign policy editor and reporter at Congressional Quarterly for more than five years. He has been an award winning reporter and editor for more than 22 years, covering defense for much of that time.

He covered the Columbia Shuttle disaster in print and live on WKMG Local 6 in Orlando. He was the first reporter in the country to expose the cause of the disaster. Frank received his bachelor's degree from Southern Connecticut State University and received his master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

ON-Air Appearances: Frank has appeared as a defense and congressional expert on numerous television and radio programs, including NPR, WABC, CNN, MSNBC, and ABC's Channel 8 in Arlington.

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Staff Writer, Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Legal Affairs

Seth Stern has been a legal affairs reporter at Congressional Quarterly since 2004 where he has covered the confirmations of four Supreme Court justices as well as immigration, criminal justice and drug policy, election law, civil liberties and the intersection of law and national security . He is also the co-author of a biography of Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. titled Justice Brennan: Liberal Champion scheduled to be published in October 2010. His articles about the Supreme Court have appeared in Slate and the Washington Post and he has been quoted in the New York Times and Newsweek about the dynamics among justices

Seth was previously a reporter at the Christian Science Monitor in Boston. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

ON-Air Appearances: He has appeared on Fox News Channel, MSNBC and C-SPAN as well as NPR, Minnesota Public Radio, Sirius XM, and several talk radio shows.

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Senior Political Analyst, CQ Weekly

Expertise: Politics

Now in his 12th campaign cycle of specialized election coverage, Benenson was Congressional Quarterly's politics editor from 1998 until the company's merger with Roll Call in 2009, and has been a CQ employee since 1981. Engaged in political analysis for nearly the entirety of his more than three decades in journalism, Benenson previously worked as a politics reporter for the CQ Weekly Report from 1985 through 1993 and was deputy politics editor in 1996 and again in the first part of 1998 before assuming the position of politics editor. He was the founding editor of CQPolitics.com, a free election news Web site launched by Congressional Quarterly in January 2006.

Benenson managed CQ's effort at the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles; CQ coverage included first-time-ever news distribution over wireless devices. He also was an editor and writer for CQ's online and print coverage at the 1988, 1996, 2004 and 2008 presidential conventions.

He began his Congressional Quarterly career with four years (1981-85) as a staff writer for Editorial Research Reports, which subsequently was renamed CQ Researcher. He also has worked at CQ as a legislative reporter from 1993 to 1995, and as a legislative editor in 1997.

A 1977 graduate of Michigan State University, Benenson's first stop out of college was at ABC Radio News in New York City, first as an editorial assistant and then as a political researcher.

ON-Air Appearances: He has appeared on numerous broadcast media outlets over the course of his career, including NPR, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN and PBS.

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Senior Editor, National Security,
CQ Weekly

Expertise: Foreign Policy

Jonathan worked for two decades as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, South Asia and the Far East for the Associated Press, NBC News, the Chicago Tribune and the San Francisco Examiner. Based in Jerusalem and Beirut, he covered the 1973 Middle East war, the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the 1975 Lebanese civil war and its aftermath, the 1979 Iranian revolution, the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, the 1981 imposition of martial law in Poland, the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and the Palestinian intifada in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. From his base in Beijing, Broder covered China's economic revolution, political turmoil in the Philippines, the downing of South Korean Airline Flight 007, the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and Afghanistan under Soviet occupation.

Returning to the United States in 1990, Broder served as the Examiner's Washington correspondent, then as an editor for National Public Radio.

He worked as a Washington correspondent for Salon and MSNBC.com before joining Congressional Quarterly in 2002. He has won a number of awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists' Peter Lisagor award for his coverage of Afghanistan. Broder's writing also has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The World Policy Journal and the Smithsonian magazine. He is frequent commentator on foreign affairs for the BBC and National Public Radio and a regular participant at the Asilah Forum in Morocco, and the World Affairs Conference in Boulder, Colo.

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Editor, Defense & Foreign Policy,
Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Defense, Foreign policy

Kevin also supervises coverage of homeland security, terrorism, and intelligence issues. He joined CQ in early 2010. Previously, he wrote for the National Public Radio website, npr.org, producing original articles on a wide variety of subjects, from terrorism and foreign affairs to foreclosures and the economy.

Before that, he spent 13 years at U.S. News and World Report magazine, covering national security, intelligence and international affairs from Washington. He helped anchor U.S. News's coverage of the war on terrorism, as well as the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and their aftermath. Whitelaw made seven trips to Iraq since 1998, including two during Saddam Hussein's rule. He began following the al Qaeda terrorist network before September 11 and spent a month in postwar Afghanistan.

He has also written about troubles inside the clandestine arm of the CIA, the growing pains of the new National Counterterrorism Center, and a series of articles tracking the shifting nature of the al Qaeda threat. Whitelaw has traveled with three secretaries of state, covered NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, and was dispatched to Israel three times to cover the uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Additional reporting trips have included Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Congo, Rwanda, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Yemen. Domestically, he covered the Hurricane Katrina aftermath in New Orleans, and the 2000 election recount battle in Florida. Born in London, Whitelaw received a bachelor's in international affairs in 1995 from Princeton University.

ON-Air Appearances: Whitelaw has appeared on CBS's Up to the Minute, CNN's Headline News and This Week at War, C-SPAN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, and Voice of America's On the Line. For many years, he was a weekly guest on WUSA-TV's 9 News Now, on Washington's CBS affiliate. Whitelaw was also a regular guest on National Public Radio's The Diane Rehm Show and on VOA's Issues in the News.

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Staff Writer, Foreign Policy,
Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Foreign Policy

Cadei has been covering politics and policy in our nation’s capitol since 2004. As Congressional Quarterly’s foreign policy reporter, she covers all the latest legislative developments in the relevant House and Senate committees, as well as the interactions between Congress, the White House and the State Department that shape the U.S. approach to international affairs. And at present, she serves as CQ’s White House pool reporter. Cadei took over the foreign policy beat at Congressional Quarterly in 2010 after covering congressional campaigns for CQ-Roll Call starting in 2008. She came to CQ in 2007 as co-editor of MoneyLine, CQ’s campaign finance specialty site. She began her career at the San Francisco Business Times before moving to Washington, D.C. and working as a staff writer for National Journal’s daily political briefing The Hotline during the 2004 election cycle.

In between stints in D.C., Cadei spent two years in the UK at the University of Oxford, earning a master’s degree in political science with a focus in comparative government. She also volunteered for a non-profit program to help train rural female journalists in South Africa for four months in 2005. A native of Sacramento, Calif., Cadei earned her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University. She is a past fellow of the National Press Foundation’s Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship and the Knight Foundation Digital Multimedia Program.

ON-Air Appearances: Emly has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, YNN’s Capitol Tonight (television), XM Radio’s POTUS Channel, CBS Radio Network, The Takeaway (radio), The John Batchelor Show (radio), WDEL Newstalk Radio and The Jim Bohannon Show (radio).

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Staff Writer, Tax Policy,
Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Taxes

Since joining CQ in 2007, he has written frequently about corporate taxation, the alternative minimum tax and government efforts to stimulate the economy.

Before coming to Washington, he spent six years at The Charlotte Observer, where he covered North Carolina's largest county and largest city governments. During his final year in Charlotte, he covered transportation policy and served as the newspaper's "Dr. Traffic" columnist.

ON-Air Appearances: He has appeared on C-SPAN, CNN and NewsChannel8 in Washington and on WTVI and NBC6 in Charlotte.

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Staff Writer,
Banking & Financial Services,
Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Banking and financial services

Steven has closely followed the congressional debate on overhauling financial regulation, revamping the Federal Reserve and addressing the future of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

He covered some of the most dramatic moments of the financial crisis as a reporter for American Banker, where he wrote about the aftermath of the collapse of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His coverage also focused on the Federal Reserve's controversial response to the crisis.

Sloan has also written for The Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Business Chronicle. A graduate of Georgia State University, he majored in political science.

ON-Air Appearances: He has appeared on C-SPAN, WAMU and WNYC.

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Staff Writer, Congressional Quarterly

Expertise: Defense, Foreign policy

Tim Starks joined Congressional Quarterly in 2003, where he is now the intelligence reporter for CQToday, CQ Weekly, CQ.com and CQPolitics.com. He is the recipient of the National Press Club's 2009 Sandy Hume Award for Excellence in Political Journalism. As a member of the defense and foreign policy team, he has covered a range of national security issues, primarily with a focus on Congress' role. Prior to accepting the job of intelligence reporter in 2006, Mr. Starks served as the team's homeland security and veterans affairs reporter, and had a stint as a reporter at CQ Homeland Security. He also contributes to CQ's Politics in America.

Before coming to CQ, Mr. Starks opened the Washington bureau of the New York Sun and served as a correspondent. Previous posts include Statehouse Bureau Chief for his hometown Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press, where he was the co-winner of the 2001 Associated Press Managing Editors' 1st place award for non-deadline news reporting. He also held a Pulliam Fellowship at the Indianapolis Star in 1999; and his first full-time journalism job as city hall reporter for the former afternoon daily, the Evansville Press. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a bachelor's degree in print journalism, and minored in English literature.

ON-Air Appearances: Tim has appeared on BBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, and NPR.

Most recent appearance:

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Reporter, Congress.org

Expertise: Grassroots Activism

Ambreen Ali covers activism on Capitol Hill and around Washington, D.C., for Congress.org, a beat that can have her covering immigration one day and the defense budget the next. Grassroots activism provides a unique take on the policy debates, one that can give audiences outside the Beltway insight into how citizens engage with lawmakers.

ON-Air Appearances: Ambreen has been on-air with The Insighters on KPFK 90.7FM Los Angeles, 98.7FM Santa Barbara, and WPRR 1680AM in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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