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Eleanor Van Buren

The Latest From Eleanor Van Buren
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., became the newest member of Congress on June 14. As a staffer, she learned that climate change was still a “third rail” for the GOP — but she predicts a sea change ahead.

We couldn’t say ‘climate change’: Rep. Melanie Stansbury on her staffer days

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted June 30, 2021 at 6:30am
New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury speaks at a campaign rally Thursday in Albuquerque, where she was joined by Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman.

Democrat Stansbury easily wins New Mexico House race

By Stephanie Akin and Eleanor Van Buren
Posted June 1, 2021 at 10:19pm, Updated June 2, 2021 at 9:35am
Texas Rep. Marc Veasey, here at the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game, started out as a journalist covering high school sports. He later worked for another former journalist, Texas Rep. Martin Frost.

What Rep. Marc Veasey learned from high school volleyball

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted May 27, 2021 at 6:30am
Rep. Fred Upton, here with University of Michigan students in 2017, says he’s never been afraid to agree or disagree with presidents, just like his onetime boss, former Rep. David Stockman.

Fred Upton never planned to return to Capitol Hill

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted April 29, 2021 at 7:00am
California Rep. Young Kim, here looking at the statue of President Ronald Reagan in the Capitol Rotunda last month, worked for two decades in the Orange County district office of former Rep. Ed Royce.

For Young Kim, it all began with ‘Atlas Shrugged’

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted February 25, 2021 at 6:30am
Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi worked on Barack Obama’s early campaigns for the House and Senate. The former president “was in the world of politics and public service for the right reasons,” Krishnamoorthi says.

Winning wasn’t everything for Krishnamoorthi. Then along came Obama

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted January 28, 2021 at 5:30am
Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley began her career in politics as an aide to Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and Sen. John Kerry.

‘Personnel is policy’: What Ayanna Pressley saw as a staffer

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted December 10, 2020 at 6:00am
Former Atlanta City Council Member Kwanza Hall won a special election Tuesday for the remainder of the late Rep. John Lewis’ term in Georgia’s 5th District.

Short-timer: Kwanza Hall wins race for remaining weeks of John Lewis’ term

By Michael Teitelbaum and Eleanor Van Buren
Posted December 2, 2020 at 12:20am
Rep. Alex X. Mooney, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District, keeps his congressional intern ID badge in his desk drawer as a memento.

Don’t throw out your intern ID badge. You may want it when you’re in Congress

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted October 29, 2020 at 6:30am
Reps. Emanuel Cleaver II, Gregory W. Meeks and Robert C. Scott say their Alpha ties are powerful.

‘Did you not know that he was my brother?’: Congressmen on Alpha Phi Alpha

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted September 29, 2020 at 6:30am
Del. Stacey Plaskett, D-V.I., asks a question during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Aug. 24.

‘I wouldn’t leave them alone’: How Stacey Plaskett became the Virgin Islands’ voice in Congress

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted September 24, 2020 at 6:15am
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and former Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, center, participate in a maile lei untying (similar to a ribbon cutting) at an event in Honolulu in 2016. Akaka died in 2018.

‘My boss had a front-row seat’: Tulsi Gabbard on serving in the National Guard

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted July 30, 2020 at 5:30am
Ohio Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, fourth from left, poses with fellow Delta Sigma Thetas, including six other lawmakers. Her sorority has been “a tremendous help” since she first came to Washington in 1999, Fudge says.

Marcia Fudge on what it’s like to be a Delta Sigma Theta in DC

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted June 25, 2020 at 5:30am
Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., center, and Democratic members celebrate during the 2019 State of the Union as President Donald Trump recognizes the record number of women in Congress.

Get yourself a tight-knit group of female friends, Kuster says

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted March 26, 2020 at 6:00am
Rep. Greg Walden used to be a staffer on Capitol Hill.

‘We just went at it hard’: Rep. Greg Walden on his early Hill days

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted February 27, 2020 at 5:31am

Greg Walden knows what’s on his staff’s mind

By Thomas McKinless and Eleanor Van Buren
Posted February 27, 2020 at 5:30am
Before he was a congressman, Ohio’s Tim Ryan was an intern and a staff assistant for his predecessor, Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Tim Ryan was once a star quarterback, with Congress as his backup

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted November 21, 2019 at 5:00am
Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth inspects a photo of himself as a staffer that was printed in Roll Call in 1971 as an April Fools’ joke. Yarmuth sat down with CQ Roll Call this week for an interview about his time as a staffer. (Thomas McKinless/CQ Roll Call)

John Yarmuth, from pinup to budget wonk

By Eleanor Van Buren and Thomas McKinless
Posted October 18, 2019 at 5:00am
Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth holds a photo of himself as a staffer that was printed in Roll Call in 1971 as an April Fools’ joke. (Thomas McKinless/CQ Roll Call)

John Yarmuth went from Roll Call pinup to Budget chairman

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted October 18, 2019 at 5:00am
Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell says people are noticing female lawmakers wearing their member pins as necklace pendants because there are more women in the House. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Member lapel pins out, necklaces in, say women in Congress

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted September 20, 2019 at 5:30am
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is a member of the Cherokee Nation and represents them in Congress. The tribe is set to vote on a proposal to start the process of getting a congressional delegate. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Cherokee Nation prepares vote on its first congressional delegate

By Eleanor Van Buren and Katherine Tully-McManus
Posted August 28, 2019 at 1:45pm
New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim still draws inspiration from his brief stint as an aide to former Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Richard G. Lugar. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Andy Kim is paying his pen pal forward

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted July 19, 2019 at 5:30am
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota used an appearance at the National Press Club to  outline both “sprints” and marathon efforts her administration would undertake if she won the presidency. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar lays out 100 actions for first 100 days if she wins White House

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted July 16, 2019 at 5:20pm
Sen. Ron Wyden high-fives fans after the final buzzer in Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals in May. (Courtesy Ron Wyden)

Sen. Ron Wyden has a surprise prediction for the Portland Trail Blazers

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted May 14, 2019 at 1:52pm
68 members, or 13 percent of Congress, reported that either they or their family members have student loan debt. (Illustration by Chris Hale/CQ Roll Call)

Members of Congress are rich with student debt

By Paul V. Fontelo, Niels Lesniewski and Eleanor Van Buren
Posted March 12, 2019 at 5:05am