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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In the plan, service providers will provide technology to combat a practice known as spoofing to aid state attorneys general in locating and prosecuting the fraudulent robocallers.
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The African American Gun Association is at a crossroads, trying to decide whether to stay a community-oriented organization or get into the political fray.
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Mere months before the shooting at Columbine High School, the federal government established a background check system to screen gun buyers, but shootings haven't waned.
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Facebook had given online advertisers tools to exclude users from viewing their ads on the basis of race, gender and other federally protected characteristics. Now Facebook is changing that.
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The legislation mandates background checks be performed on all gun sales, including firearm purchases made privately. The Senate is unlikely to take it up.
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While the reopening of the government is welcome news for many federal workers, some express trepidation that they'll face the same predicament after Feb. 15.
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The shutdown means many HUD sponsored affordable housing programs are at risk of running out of money. Critics say landlords may not sign up in the future, if the government doesn't pay its bills.
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While much of the farm bill draft mirrors current law, there is a major change coming for farmers: Industrial hemp will be legalized. Forestry and food stamps became sticking points.
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"President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully denounce white nationalism," a letter from some Jewish leaders said. The synagogue's Rabbi Jeffrey Myers escorted the president.
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McCain was shot down during the Vietnam War and was held captive and tortured for years. The ordeal helped fuel his political career.