White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Archives for July 2021

Punchbowl DC Clear Party

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Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, Punchbowl DC co-founders

Punchbowl DC party with guests Mike Allen,Ben and Joanne Ginsberg, Jill Zuckman and Tammy Haddad

Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, co-founders of PunchbowlDC News hosted an evening reception featuring an interview with Clear CEO Caryn Seidman Becker, at Anchovy Social. Palmer announced that PunchbowlDC now has 100,000 subscribers. It was one of the first gatherings of politicos and media this summer.

Guests included Danielle Burr and CR Wooters, former Trump White House aide Johnny DeStefano, Ron Bonjean, Ben and Joanne Ginsberg, Betsy Fischer Martin, Mike Allen and Jill Zuckman. The co-author of the bestseller, “Nightmare Scenario,” Damian Paletta and Jacqueline Alemany, author of the Power Up newsletter were among the media stars along with Brian Stelter and Mike Allen.

Damian Paletta and Jacqueline Alemany from the Washington Post

Damian Paletta and Brian Stelter

Johnny DeStefano and Danielle Burr

CR Wooters from Uber

Kara Swisher and Brian Stelter Fete Facebook authors Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frenkel at Comet Ping Pong

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Kara Swisher and Brian Stelter hosted a book party for Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang to celebrate the publication of “An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination” at Comet Ping Pong in Washington, DC. Swisher and Stelter gave impassioned speeches about the importance of the book which delves deeply into Facebook and the relationship of Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg.

Guests included members of Congress Senator Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Ro Khanna and government officials including Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, Lina Khan’s Chief of Staff Jen Howard, Biden Advisor to Federal Trade Commission on Consumer Protection, Competition Tim Wu. Guests included Biden White House top aides John McCarthy and Katie Petreleius, former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer, media stars Jake Tapper, Jeff Goldberg, Kaitlan Collins, Yasmeen Abutaleb, Yamiche Alcindor. Some Washington favorites were in attendance including Heather Podesta, Tom Wheeler, Kelley McCormick, Carol Melton, Niki Christoff, David Chavern, Jen Stout, Craig Gordon, Luther Lowe and Weija Jiang.

NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell Named WHCA President After Tie Breaking Vote

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NBC News’ White House Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell has been named President of the White House Correspondents’ Association for the 2023-’24 term after a tie breaking vote.

Photo Courtesy of Morning Joe.

On Monday, the WHCA released results for their annual election to decide three new members for the association’s nine person executive board, only to discover a tie between O’Donnell and the Politico White House Correspondent Anita Kumar for the At-Large executive board seat. Even more surprising, O’Donnell and Kumar were both top choices for the associations’ next presidential term, also on the ballot this year, with O’Donnell winning 204 to Kumar’s 191 votes.

However, according to the WHCA’s bylaws, only a sitting board member can be elected President. As a result, the decision on the next WHCA President of the 2023-’24 term became contingent on a tie-breaking vote by the outgoing executive board. Late Wednesday night, the board made their decision, voting 7 to 2 in O’Donnell’s favor, reports AdWeek.

The current WHCA President, Associated Press White House Correspondent Zeke Miller, will finish his term at the end of this year. CBS News Radio White House correspondent Steven Portnoy will take up the seat for the 2021-’22 term, followed by NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith for the 2022-’23 term.

In her 27 years working for NBC News, Kelly O’Donnell has covered several presidential campaigns, the summer and winter Olympics, and several major events including the Oklahoma City bombings and the O.J. Simpson trials. She was embedded in the 3rd Infantry Division during the Iraq War and was the first to report on live television Hillary Clinton’s concession call to President Trump following the 2016 elections. While at NBC she has worked as a Capitol Hill and White House correspondent, and has appeared on many NBC platforms including NBC Nightly News, Today, and Meet the Press.

Vote for the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Next President Ends in Tie

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Every year the White House Correspondents’ Association holds an election to pick three of their members to join the association’s nine-member executive board – each serving a term of three years. This year, the association also casted votes to see who among those nine board members would serve as the next President of the WHCA. In an unlikely turn of events, this year’s election has ended up with a tie.

The crowd gathers at the annual White House Correspondence Brunch, Photo courtesy of Haddad Media.

According to the election results released by the WHCA, NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell narrowly edged out Politico’s Anita Kumar in the presidential race, winning 204 to 191 votes. However, according to the association’s bylaws, the President of the WHCA must be elected to the executive board before they can take up the presidency. This means that O’Donnell’s victory is contingent on her also winning the At-Large executive board seat – a race that she tied with Kumar with each receiving 197 votes.

The decision now rests on the outgoing executive board who will reconvene later this week to make a tie-breaking vote for both the At-Large seat and the Presidency. Many White House reporters say they cannot recall the last time that a similar situation has occurred, Politico reports.

The two other board seats up for a vote were won by large margins. ABC News’ Karen Travers won the Radio Seat with 374 votes and Bloomberg’s Justin Sink won the Wire Services Seat with 364 votes. A total of 397 ballots were submitted. The association also voted overwhelmingly to amend their bylaws, with 333 votes in the affirmative.