Amaris Encinas
Amaris Encinas covers national trending news for USA Today, with a focus on how political decisions, government services and high‑visibility public figures connect to everyday experience. Her reporting tracks what people are talking about in real time, from shutdowns and elections to viral social media phenomena and pop‑culture moments. She writes in a service‑oriented style, explaining what developments mean for readers while anchoring each story in concrete examples and official statements.
Government shutdown and Social Security offices
Encinas frequently reports on the practical fallout of federal funding fights, following government shutdowns through their impact on Social Security offices and the people who rely on them. In coverage of a prolonged shutdown, she documents how staffing shortages forced some Social Security offices to close early or limit in‑person services, balancing statements from the agency with the realities facing employees working without pay. Her co‑bylined reporting on the same shutdown follows the stalemate between Democrats and Republicans, tying Senate votes to missed paychecks for federal workers, military members and others while tracking efforts to extend health care subsidies.
Across these pieces, she keeps the focus on operational detail - what remains open, what changes, and how quickly conditions might shift as Congress negotiates.
Election Day logistics for schools
Encinas approaches elections through the lens of day‑to‑day logistics, explaining how school calendars intersect with voting. In her Election Day coverage, she answers whether schools are closed, outlining how the timing of state and local races affects classroom schedules and access to polling places. The work blends civic information with practical guidance, making clear what parents, students and school staff can expect when millions of Americans head to the polls outside a presidential or midterm year.
Her framing emphasizes clarity and utility, turning an abstract election date into specific questions about who is in school, who is off, and what that means for turnout and operations.
Political figures, media moments and audience reaction
Encinas often writes about prominent political and media personalities at moments when their words or appearances trigger broader conversation.
In one piece, she covers Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez’s comments that “you can’t earn a billion dollars,” presenting the lawmaker’s argument about systemic failure and labor practices while situating it within ongoing questions about her political future. In another, she reports on Sean Hannity’s on‑air appearance that sparked health concerns, explaining his public reassurance that puffiness and a raspy voice were side effects of medication for a pinched nerve.
That story reconstructs the sequence from viewers noticing changes while he analyzed New York primary results and interviewed a White House deputy chief of staff, to Hannity’s detailed explanation in a post on X. Encinas uses these episodes to show how political commentary, personal health disclosures and social media reactions now move together, treating the personalities as nodes in a larger conversation rather than isolated subjects. The same approach is evident in her coverage of Instagram’s Instants feature, where she tracks how the launch divides users and collects their reactions to changes in the platform.
Social media trends, safety and pop culture
Beyond formal politics, Encinas devotes significant attention to social media trends and their real‑world consequences. Her reporting on the viral “Cat in the Hat” trend links online behavior to arrests and school lockdowns, showing how a seemingly playful meme can strain law enforcement and disrupt campus safety.
She connects the spread of the trend to institutional responses, documenting how schools and police react once a challenge crosses from screens into hallways and streets. On the pop‑culture side, she writes about AMC Theatres screening two of Dolly Parton’s most popular movies, treating the programming decision as a national trending story that taps into nostalgia and the singer’s broad appeal.
She contributes to pieces that follow how public figures respond to tragedy and remembrance, including coverage of Mabel Lowe honoring her younger sister days after her death and David Boreanaz remembering Chad Lowe’s daughter who died at 13. Her bylines also surface on nationally syndicated business and technology stories, such as reporting on the Walmart CEO’s pledge that the company will not use artificial intelligence to set personalized prices, tying corporate strategy to wider debates over AI and consumer protection. Taken together, these articles show a reporter who moves quickly between online culture, entertainment, corporate decisions and safety concerns, selecting stories that capture the tone and stakes of the current moment.
4 more politics journalists.
A.D. Quig
A.D. Quig follows money and power through Chicago and Cook County government, showing how political decisions, taxes and public spending affect residents and businesses. At the Chicago Tribune, she covers city and county politics, municipal finance, tax policy, budgets and the structures shaping mayoral and council authority. She joined the Tribune in 2022 after covering politics for Crain’s Chicago Business and The Daily Line. Her work examines council power, ethics rules, police leadership, tax incentives, public agencies and pandemic aid. She has reported on data center tax breaks, property tax errors, federal relief spending and the fiscal effects of major development proposals. Quig combines insider government reporting with public accountability journalism. She uses public records, data and budget documents, follows committees and staff negotiations, and explains complex decisions in plain language with precise numbers and a direct link to everyday consequences.
Adam Daly
Adam Daly covers politics for amNewYork with a focus on the inner workings of city and state government and the low-profile forums where power is exercised and negotiated. He reports on commissions and panels that shape how New York is governed, treating charter reform and government efficiency as central political terrain. His coverage of moves to replace an Adams-era charter commission with a new government efficiency panel foregrounds mandate, authority, and what “efficiency” means in practice for agencies and services. He tracks who gains and loses influence when one commission supplants another and which constituencies are being answered to. Daly explains dense procedural questions in clear, reader-facing terms, using specific institutional details and occasional wordplay to connect jargon-heavy reforms to public spending, service delivery, and mayoral power.
Adam Pack
Adam Pack covers Capitol Hill through power struggles, investigations and ideological fights, focusing on how Congress intersects with Donald Trump’s agenda. He is a politics writer on Fox News Digital’s Capitol Hill team, covering Congress, federal elections, legislative battles, election rules, war powers, primaries and intraparty fights. He previously wrote for the Daily Caller News Foundation. His reporting examines deadlines, vote counts, bill language, campaign spending, court rulings, oversight reports, culture clashes and emerging issues such as AI-backed political groups. He has covered FISA reauthorization, defense spending, the SAVE America Act, housing policy, redistricting, candidate absences, primary spending and disputes over sex, gender, religion and race-based caucuses. He reports primarily through news features and investigative-style pieces built around documents, committee reports, court records, unearthed video and specific legislative details. He often co-writes complex Capitol Hill stories and publishes “FIRST ON FOX” exclusives.
Adam Sullivan
Adam Sullivan is a veteran politics reporter for WCAX who connects elections and party disputes to everyday life. He covers statewide races, party primaries, federal representation, political rhetoric, extremism, and accountability across the Upper Valley and neighboring states. His reporting includes Becca Balint’s victory over Molly Gray in the Democratic U.S. House primary to replace Congressman Peter Welch. He also reports when political controversies affect public safety, political culture, towns, and institutions, including a New Hampshire Libertarian Party post endorsing violence against elected Democrats. Sullivan follows cultural stories with civic consequences, such as Noah Kahan’s appeal to fans to stop stealing a Strafford road sign linked to his music. He writes straight news centered on concrete events, official reactions, political context, community impact, and what comes next.