Pam Fessler
Pam Fessler is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where she covers poverty, philanthropy, and voting issues.
In her reporting at NPR, Fessler does stories on homelessness, hunger, affordable housing, and income inequality. She reports on what non-profit groups, the government, and others are doing to reduce poverty and how those efforts are working. Her poverty reporting was recognized with a 2011 First Place National Headliner Award.
Fessler also covers elections and voting, including efforts to make voting more accessible, accurate, and secure. She has done countless stories on everything from the debate over state voter identification laws to Russian hacking attempts and long lines at the polls.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Fessler became NPR's first Homeland Security correspondent. For seven years, she reported on efforts to tighten security at ports, airports, and borders, and the debate over the impact on privacy and civil rights. She also reported on the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, The 9/11 Commission Report, Social Security, and the Census. Fessler was one of NPR's White House reporters during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Before becoming a correspondent, Fessler was the acting senior editor on the Washington Desk and NPR's chief election editor. She coordinated all network coverage of the presidential, congressional, and state elections in 1996 and 1998. In her more than 25 years at NPR, Fessler has also been deputy Washington Desk editor and Midwest National Desk editor.
Earlier in her career, she was a senior writer at Congressional Quarterly magazine. Fessler worked there for 13 years as both a reporter and editor, covering tax, budget, and other news. She also worked as a budget specialist at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and was a reporter at The Record newspaper in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Fessler has a master's of public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from Douglass College in New Jersey.
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President Trump continues to attack Democrats for homeless population growth in places like California and New York, but his administration has yet to decide on a plan.
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Several states are removing voters from their rolls in preparation for the 2020 elections. Critics say voters are being unfairly "purged" but states say they're "cleaning up" the lists.
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Advocacy groups are trying to educate immigrants about the Trump administration's rule change that says legal immigrants will be less likely to be able to stay in the U.S. if they use public benefits. -
While the poverty rate finally fell to prerecession levels in 2018, the number of people without health insurance increased, and about one in eight Americans still lived below the poverty line. -
Pennsylvania and other states are working through grants from Congress to upgrade their voting machines and other equipment. Advocates say more work is needed — and billions more dollars. -
The Trump administration says one reason it is tightening "public charge" requirements for immigrants is to save U.S. taxpayers' money. But opponents argue it will cost them more in the long run.
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Immigrant advocates are threatening to sue the Trump administration for its new rule that will make it harder for immigrants to get green cards if they use, and are likely to use, public benefits.
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Studies show poor children living in "high opportunity" areas have a better chance at success. A program in the Seattle area to help families move to better neighborhoods has seen promising results. -
The nation's intelligence agencies have designated one person to be in charge of coordinating the government's efforts to identify threats to U.S. elections.
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The possible change involves a different inflation measure to adjust the poverty threshold annually. Anti-poverty groups worry that many low-income people would be pushed off assistance programs.
