LA Times hires McCaskill to cover Congress

Los Angeles Times Washington bureau chief Kimbriell Kelly made the following announcement:

Nolan McCaskill has been named the inaugural reporter to launch a new congressional beat in the Los Angeles Times’ Washington, D.C., office, starting Sept. 20.

McCaskill joins The Times from Politico, where he has worked since 2014, most recently serving as a policy reporter with a focus on race. While at Politico, he covered the White House, including the transition from President Obama to the Trump administration, Congress and the 2020 campaign. During the campaign, he interviewed Joe Biden and broke news on Sen. Chuck Schumer’s meeting with former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and ex-Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s senior campaign team urging Hickenlooper to drop out of the Democratic presidential primary and run for Senate.

McCaskill, one of more than 80 who applied for the job, becomes the first reporter on the beat, where he will produce daily and enterprise stories on how the interests and activities of the congressional caucuses intersect with those of the people of California and the politics and policies on Capitol Hill. This focus will be in addition to smart takes on the most important legislation and proposals coming out of Congress.

His primary role will include covering the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus and how they reflect larger communities and interests in California and across the nation. McCaskill will also be responsible for reporting on the issues and news of other relevant caucuses, including the LGBT Caucus and the Freedom Caucus.

McCaskill was an ideal candidate for the job with his experience covering Congress, including writing extensively about the Congressional Black Caucus and anchoring Huddle, one of the Hill’s most widely read newsletters.

McCaskill is a member of the National Assn. of Black Journalists, deputy chair of NABJ’s Political Task Force and an alum of Florida A&M University.