Ron Elving
Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News, where he is frequently heard as a news analyst and writes regularly for NPR.org.
He is also a professorial lecturer and Executive in Residence in the School of Public Affairs at American University, where he has also taught in the School of Communication. In 2016, he was honored with the University Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching in an Adjunct Appointment. He has also taught at George Mason and Georgetown.
He was previously the political editor for USA Today and for Congressional Quarterly. He has been published by the Brookings Institution and the American Political Science Association. He has contributed chapters on Obama and the media and on the media role in Congress to the academic studies Obama in Office 2011, and Rivals for Power, 2013. Ron's earlier book, Conflict and Compromise: How Congress Makes the Law, was published by Simon & Schuster and is also a Touchstone paperback.
During his tenure as manager of NPR's Washington desk from 1999 to 2014, the desk's reporters were awarded every major recognition available in radio journalism, including the Dirksen Award for Congressional Reporting and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 2008, the American Political Science Association awarded NPR the Carey McWilliams Award "in recognition of a major contribution to the understanding of political science."
Ron came to Washington in 1984 as a Congressional Fellow with the American Political Science Association and worked for two years as a staff member in the House and Senate. Previously, he had been state capital bureau chief for The Milwaukee Journal.
He received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University and master's degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of California – Berkeley.
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The is not the first time Congress has had little time left to find a deal to prevent a government shutdown. But what lessons were learned from previous government shutdown showdowns? Who has the power, who gets the blame, and what does the history of these confrontations tell us about this current situation?
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Congress is dealing with a fast-approaching deadline set by President Trump: have a tax overhaul bill on his desk by Christmas. To achieve that, a process that takes months needs to happen in weeks.
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Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said he will not seek re-election in a speech lambasting President Trump. Also, a court has ruled in favor of an unauthorized immigrant's right to an abortion.
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After nine months in office, President Trump has found the many issues of immigration more vexing than he may have imagined — something Trump has in common with a long line of predecessors.
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Even in his Inauguration Day address, Trump signaled that he might go his own way. He may be testing that option now, keeping a weather eye on the reaction from his truest believers. -
North Korea claimed to have successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb on Sunday, which would be a big development in the country's nuclear program. Also, we have the latest on the U.S. response.
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President Eisenhower was not a fan of the 1954 Supreme Court order against segregated schools; but he sent the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Ark., to ensure it was enforced at Central High. -
Nearly 20 million people tuned in to watch former FBI Director James Comey testify before the Senate earlier this month. But other episodes in history have been just as dramatic.
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The FBI arrested an NSA contractor for leaking a classified document describing Russian cyberattacks ahead of the 2016 U.S. election. British police have identified 2 of the 3 London attackers.
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The week in politics was busy, with the firing of James Comey, testimony of Sally Yates, ongoing investigations of Michael Flynn, and President Trump's suggestion of secret recordings.
