Editorial Director of Politics and Polling Jonathan Lai, Executive Editor of Washington Julia Marsh and Senior Executive Editor of North America Alex Burns sent out the following:
Team —
We’re thrilled to announce that Lauren Fedor will join POLITICO as a senior politics reporter, boosting our reporting firepower during an extraordinary moment in American politics.
Lauren joins us from the Financial Times, where she has spent the past seven years building a reputation as one of the sharpest and most versatile reporters covering power in Washington. As the FT’s U.S. political correspondent and deputy Washington bureau chief, she has covered the White House, Congress and presidential campaigns while helping shape the paper’s broader political report. Whether covering late-night Capitol Hill negotiations, following candidates across the campaign trail or producing deeply reported enterprise, Lauren has demonstrated the versatility, judgment and ambition that define exceptional political journalism.
Lauren first joined the FT in London in 2016, where she worked as both a reporter and an editor before moving to Washington in 2019. That experience on multiple desks honed her news instincts and gave her an appreciation for collaboration across formats and teams — qualities that have made her an invaluable newsroom leader. In addition to reporting many of the FT’s biggest U.S. political stories, she has helped oversee the Washington bureau and played a leading role in ambitious editorial initiatives, including the publication’s monthly political poll.
Throughout the interview process, Lauren impressed us with her thoughtful approach to political reporting and her clear-eyed understanding of what distinguishes great campaign journalism.
She combines sophisticated reporting with a knack for finding the telling human detail, whether she’s profiling lawmakers, unpacking the dynamics reshaping the Republican Party or capturing the mood of voters on the campaign trail.
When Jonathan asked his favorite interview question — why did Kamala Harris lose the 2024 election? — Lauren paused only briefly before delivering a nuanced, thoughtful response that began with broad atmospherics around the economy and anti-incumbent sentiment and zoomed into granular campaign decisions and dynamics. It was an impressive demonstration of the qualities we’re so excited for her to bring to her work at POLITICO: sharp intellect, deep sourcing and genuine curiosity about the people and forces driving American politics.
Lauren will play a central role in our authoritative coverage of campaigns, elections and the political forces shaping Washington. She brings an eagerness to collaborate across the newsroom and a wealth of ideas for ambitious enterprise alongside the fast, authoritative reporting our readers expect from POLITICO.
Lauren will join us this fall. Please join us in welcoming her to POLITICO.
