Erum Salam
Erum Salam covers breaking political news with a clear focus on how global events and foreign policy decisions shape power struggles in the United States, especially within the Republican party and Congress. She reports for MS NOW and concentrates on fast-moving stories where international conflict, security policy and domestic partisan politics collide. Her work draws on several years of breaking news reporting for The Guardian, where she covered U.S. policy, protest movements, voting rights and the lived impact of government decisions on ordinary people.
Foreign policy fights over Israel and Iran
Salam follows how foreign policy disputes over Israel and Iran translate into fractures inside the Democratic Party and the wider political system. In her coverage of Democrats’ split over whether to cut off military aid to Israel, she traces the weakening grip of AIPAC on Congress and shows how a single vote exposes deeper tensions over Gaza, the West Bank and the limits of traditional pro-Israel consensus.
She also explains the U.S.-Iran ceasefire and related negotiations, including reporting on a U.S. military attack on an Iranian ship that threatened to derail peace talks, and on the president’s threat to strike civilian infrastructure if talks fail. Across these pieces, she translates complex diplomatic events and security issues into straightforward accounts of who holds leverage, what is at stake for U.S. policymakers and how global crises feed back into domestic political debate.
Her earlier reporting on student protests over Israel’s war on Gaza, including Columbia University encampments and police arrests, shows the same habit of tying foreign conflicts to campus activism, free speech and university governance.
Trump-era power, conservative figures and culture wars
Salam returns repeatedly to the people and institutions around Donald Trump, treating them as a through-line for understanding the modern conservative movement. She covers polling that shows Republicans and MAGA supporters souring on Trump amid war and rising living costs, framing his declining approval as part of a broader story about economic pressure and fatigue with permanent crisis.
Her story on GOP senator Bill Cassidy calling a measles outbreak a “terrible legacy” for the Trump administration links public health failures to political responsibility and the long shadow of past decisions. She reports on the Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board announcing an indefinite closure and the rapid erection of fencing around the building, turning a cultural landmark’s fate into a political and symbolic battle.
In a different register, she covers South Park’s decision to rebrand itself as “South America” in response to Trump’s “Lake America” order, showing how entertainment reacts to and mocks executive overreach. Her reporting on Bettina Trump confirming that a Putin ally paid for her wedding party pulls together personal relationships, money and geopolitics, highlighting how private events inside Trump’s orbit raise public questions about foreign influence and loyalty.
She also follows conservative legal and political figures at a more personal level, including reporting on former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer.
Courts, accountability and the human impact of politics
Salam’s breaking news coverage often sits at the point where political conflict turns into individual consequence, especially in courtrooms and law enforcement.
Her piece on the man who sprayed Representative Ilhan Omar with vinegar and received a 14‑month prison sentence focuses on a single defendant and victim to show how political hostility and harassment are punished under the law. She reports on Ken Paxton’s former law enforcement director endorsing a rival candidate, using that endorsement to illuminate internal splits within a powerful Republican attorney general’s circle and to show how law enforcement veterans respond to political controversy.
Earlier in her career, she wrote about Trump’s sudden student loan policy changes that sent repayment costs soaring for millions of borrowers, translating financial jargon and court-driven policy shifts into clear, accessible language for readers facing real household impacts. Her reporting on a Texas state employee fired for refusing to remove gender pronouns from an email signature uses one workplace dispute to illustrate broader trends in culture-war politics and employment rights.
She has also produced narrative work and personal essays on navigating the U.S. healthcare system after a family member’s severe stroke, which show her willingness to step inside systems she usually covers from the outside and to document how policy failures play out at the bedside.
Protests, emergencies and the mechanics of governance
Salam treats protests and emergencies as tests of how governments function, not just as dramatic events. In covering police arrests of students protesting Israel’s war on Gaza at Columbia University, she reports in real time on the dismantling of encampments, the use of police power on campus and the tensions between administrators and activists. Her reporting on the ferocious winter storm that swept the U.S., leaving millions without power and at least 21 dead, combines breaking coverage with attention to infrastructure, preparedness and political accountability in crisis.
She has written in depth about Texas’s shutdown of mail-in ballot drop-off sites, detailing how a governor’s decision to limit ballot boxes during the 2020 elections disproportionately hit diverse urban communities and became a concrete example of voting rights suppression.
This strand of her work shows a consistent interest in the mechanics of governance - how executive orders, board decisions, police deployments and election rules operate on the ground, and how those choices are felt first by vulnerable or politically engaged communities. Across outlets, she builds a record of stories where the key question is not only what politicians say, but what their choices mean for access, safety and participation.
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.