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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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. -
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. -
Together the group faces 42 counts related to the drinking water catastrophe roughly seven years ago. The crimes range from perjury to misconduct in office to involuntary manslaughter. -
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state has 60 refrigerated units available if needed. He also said that 5,000 body bags were distributed to some of the hardest-hit counties. -
Fauci said once the vaccine becomes widely available, if by "April, May, June, July, we get as many people vaccinated as possible, we could really turn this thing around" by the end of 2021. -
"Conducting the championship in one geographic region allows for more planning and execution of safeguards," an NCAA official said on Monday. The NCAA hopes all 64 teams will play in San Antonio. -
The public health order does not apply to varsity sports such as the football team, which plays University of Minnesota on the road Saturday. The two-week order was prompted by surging virus cases. -
Nearly half the people who attended the reception have tested positive for the virus. Maine authorities say it has spread to others who did not attend the wedding, including a woman who has died. -
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said elections would be delayed from Sept. 19 to Oct. 17. After 102 days without community spread, a new COVID-19 cluster in Auckland has grown to 58 cases. -
Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, said "safety strikes" should only take place as a last resort. The decision on whether to strike would be left to the local union.
