Brakkton Booker
Brakkton Booker is a National Desk reporter based in Washington, DC.
He covers a wide range of topics including issues related to federal social safety net programs and news around the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
His reporting takes him across the country covering natural disasters, like hurricanes and flooding, as well as tracking trends in regional politics and in state governments, particularly on issues of race.
Following the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Booker's reporting broadened to include a focus on young activists pushing for changes to federal and state gun laws, including the March For Our Lives rally and national school walkouts.
Prior to joining NPR's national desk, Booker spent five years as a producer/reporter for NPR's political unit. He spent most to the 2016 presidential campaign cycle covering the contest for the GOP nomination and was the lead producer from the Trump campaign headquarters on election night. Booker served in a similar capacity from the Louisville campaign headquarters of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he produced pieces and filed dispatches from the Republican and Democratic National conventions, as well as from President Obama's reelection site in Chicago.
In the summer of 2014, Booker took a break from politics to report on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Booker started his career as a show producer working on nearly all of NPR's magazine programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and former news and talk show Tell Me More, where he produced the program's signature Barbershop segment.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University and was a 2015 Kiplinger Fellow. When he's not on the road, Booker enjoys discovering new brands of whiskey and working on his golf game.
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Nearly 3 million Texas electricity customers are enduring extreme cold and some cities say tap water must be boiled. One utility says its repair crews have been harassed by angry residents. -
The Republican from Nebraska speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, the future of the GOP and working with the Biden administration. -
Trump's defense used roughly three of their 16 hours to push back on House impeachment managers' case that Trump should be convicted for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. -
The cremated remains arrived with ceremony in a motorcade with members of Sicknick's family and were carried by colleagues into the Capitol. His urn rests on a pedestal next to a U.S. flag. -
Lindell, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, had been using his Twitter account to spread disinformation about the 2020 presidential election, including false claims of voter fraud. -
"I think you can expect to see somewhere upwards of beyond 20,000 members of the National Guard that will be here in the footprint of the District of Columbia," D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said. -
Pittman is the first woman and the first African American to lead the law enforcement agency, U.S. Capitol Police confirm to NPR. She has served with the force since April 2001. -
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said a deputy shot and killed 23-year-old Casey Goodson on Friday. Law enforcement recovered a gun. Goodson's attorneys say he was licensed to carry a firearm. -
The team is led by Janet Yellen, a former Fed chair who Biden nominated for treasury secretary. Other nominees, like OMB nominee Neera Tanden, may face stiff Republican opposition. -
"The Morgue Attendant will be provided maximum PPE, will be tasked with physically moving bodies, and will require the ability to lift between 100-400 lbs. with assistance," the job listing states. -
The NCAA said hosting a tournament across 13 U.S. cities "would be very difficult to execute." Talks are underway to try to hold all 67 games of the tournament in Indianapolis in March and April. -
The judge said he was "left with no choice" but to impose a countywide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. He noted El Paso County has seen a 160% increase in its positivity rate in the last three weeks.
