WaPo economic policy reporter to become America editor

Lori Montgomery, who covers economic policy and the federal budget for the Washington Post, has been named America editor at the paper.

She’ll lead the paper’s efforts to promote more aggressive news and enterprise reporting across the 50 states. In addition to a reporting staff of four, she will also oversee Mark Berman’s Post Nation blog and frequently commission work from other staffers and freelancers.

Montgomery has written extensively about every major piece of legislation to pass Congress since 2008, including the TARP bank bailout, the Obama stimulus package and the Democratic overhaul of the health care system.

A former foreign correspondent who covered the emerging economies of Central Europe and the war over Kosovo in the late 1990s, Montgomery joined the Post in 2000 to report on local government and politics.

In addition, Alan Sipress, who was deputy business and economics editor at the Post from 2008 to 2012, has been named Federal editor, with a broad mandate to drive coverage of agencies and departments whose work affect the lives of millions of Americans.

He has been federal government and accountability editor since then.