Kathleen Hunter
Kathleen Hunter is part of Roll Call's House leadership reporting team and writes about politically contentious topics ranging from repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy to immigration to the latest developments in the flap over whether the White House offered Rep. Joe Sestak a job to discouraging him from challenging incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter. At Roll Call, Kate has focused on covering factions within the Democratic Caucus, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Blue Dog Coalition, with on emphasis on those groups' interactions with leadership.
Prior to coming to Roll Call in 2010, Kate spent four years as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly. Kate has also worked at Stateline.org, where she covered trends in state policy and politics, and at the Chapel Hill News in North Carolina, where she covered local government. Kate is a 2002 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in journalism and political science and was the 2001-02 editor-in-chief of the award-winning campus newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel.
Hunter no longer works at Roll Call.
GOP Hopes Unity Lies Ahead
April 15, 2011Speaker John Boehner needed Democratic votes to get his continuing resolution through the House after many conservatives decided the agreement didn’t cut enough spending. He’ll need a more unified Conference for debt limit and budget votes.
McConnell Faces Debt Limit Test
April 13, 2011Senate Republicans are locked in an internal debate about whether to filibuster a debt limit increase if it is not paired with the kind of tight limits on spending they are seeking.
War on Fiscal Discipline Rages as Democrats Weigh Alternatives
April 12, 2011President Barack Obama’s decision to respond to House Republicans’ 2012 budget blueprint is complicating matters for Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Obama to Brief Leaders Before Speech
April 12, 2011President Barack Obama will brief Congressional leaders Wednesday morning at the White House prior to what is expected to be a significant speech outlining his long-term deficit-reduction plan.
GOP Can’t Pass the CR Deal Alone
April 11, 2011House Republican leaders aren’t looking to Democrats for votes to approve the long-term spending deal that will come to a vote later this week even though many conservatives have announced they won’t support the bill.
Senate Democrats Place Shutdown Blame on Boehner
April 8, 2011Senate Democratic leaders say a final deal to avert a government shutdown rests in the hands of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and will only happen if he drops an attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.
CR Talks Appear Back On Track
April 6, 2011Republican and Democratic leaders continued to negotiate a long-term spending measure Wednesday, and while both sides sniped at one another, it appears they have gotten past Tuesday’s outbreak of partisan warfare.
1099 Vote May Lead to Other Changes in Law
April 5, 2011Moderate Senate Democrats who voted to repeal a provision of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law say they are open to working with Republicans on more changes — but only if those changes are meant to improve, rather than dismantle, the measure.
Senate Sends 1099 Repeal to Obama
April 5, 2011The Senate on Tuesday voted to send to President Barack Obama a bill that would make the first significant change to Democrats’ signature health care overhaul law.
Legislative Pace About to Get Even More Glacial
April 3, 2011With the Republican-controlled House sending Senate Democrats one dead-on-arrival bill after another, the legislative pace in the Senate has slowed to a crawl, and it looks as if it’s about to get even slower.
Reid, GOP Senators Believe Shutdown Can Be Avoided
April 3, 2011Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was optimistic Sunday that Congressional leaders will be able to strike a deal this week on a fiscal 2011 spending bill and avoid a government shutdown.
Ryan Offers Glimpse at Fiscal 2012 Budget Plan
April 3, 2011House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan said Sunday that the fiscal 2012 budget proposal he will release this week would cut more than $4 trillion over the next decade, make sweeping changes to Medicare and Medicaid, cap federal spending, and reduce tax rates.
Rubio Declines 2012 White House Bid
April 3, 2011Freshman GOP Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday ruled out the possibility that he would be on the presidential ticket in 2012.
Reid: Senate Will Look at Riders ‘One by One’
April 1, 2011Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stopped short Friday of ruling out attaching some less controversial policy riders to the stopgap funding compromise that the Nevada Democrat and the White House are working to hammer out with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to avert a government shutdown.
Senate to Vote on Repealing Portion of Health Care Law
March 31, 2011The Senate set up a vote for Tuesday on a bill that would make the first significant change to President Barack Obama’s signature health care overhaul law.
Ethanol Subsidy May Split Senate Republicans
March 29, 2011Budget-conscious GOP Senators are pushing to eliminate a $6 billion federal ethanol subsidy that is cherished by farm-state Republicans, exposing an intraparty schism that could muddy the party’s message on fiscal discipline.
Hispanic Caucus Wants a Little DCCC Wooing
March 18, 2011Rep. Steve Israel is going on a charm offensive with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in advance of the 2012 election cycle, hoping to avoid the tensions that erupted with black Members of Congress earlier this month.
Controversial EPA Vote on Hold in Senate
March 17, 2011Senate Democrats have some breathing room before they have to weigh in on a contentious proposal to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
Senate GOP Wants Spending Votes
March 15, 2011The burst of comity that followed a deal on Senate rules changes at the beginning of this Congress is under stress, with Republicans growing frustrated at the lack of action on items such as spending cuts and trade agreements.
Members Rethink Earmark Ban
March 14, 2011House appropriators from both parties are starting to push for a re-examination of the Republican-imposed earmark ban.
House GOP Unveils Three-Week CR
March 11, 2011With backing from Senate Democrats, House Republicans on Friday unveiled a three-week continuing resolution that would cut another $6 billion in federal spending and keep the government running through April 8.
Israel Makes Changes to DCCC to Assuage CBC
March 11, 2011The head of the Congressional Black Caucus said Friday that he was optimistic that changes at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee would help ease some of the tensions between the Congressional Black Caucus and House Democrats’ campaign organization.
Boehner to Democrats: ‘Get Serious’
March 10, 2011Speaker John Boehner challenged Democrats to “get serious” about spending negotiations on Thursday, the day after the Senate failed to advance a House GOP spending plan to cut $61 billion as well as a smaller Democratic alternative.
Veto Threats Made Against Two House GOP Bills
March 8, 2011House Republicans’ proposals to ax a pair of federal housing assistance programs established in response to the 2008 foreclosure crisis drew veto threats Tuesday.
Boehner to Hold DOMA Meeting
March 8, 2011Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday afternoon will hold a bipartisan leadership meeting to determine whether the House should take legal action to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
