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Andrea Seabrook

Andrea Seabrook covers Capitol Hill as NPR's Congressional Correspondent.

In each report, Seabrook explains the daily complexities of legislation and the longer trends in American politics. She delivers critical, insightful reporting – from the last Republican Majority, through the speakership of Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats' control of the House, to the GOP landslide of 2010. She and NPR's Peter Overby won the prestigious Joan S. Barone award for their Dollar Politics series, which exposed the intense lobbying effort around President Obama's Health Care legislation. Seabrook and Overby's most recent collaboration, this time on the flow of money during the 2010 midterm elections, was widely lauded and drew a huge audience spike on NPR.org.

An authority on the comings and goings of daily life on Capitol Hill, Seabrook has covered Congress for NPR since January 2003 She took a year-and-a-half break, in 2006 and 2007, to host the weekend edition of NPR's newsmagazine, All Things Considered. In that role, Seabrook covered a wide range of topics, from the uptick in violence in the Iraq war, to the history of video game music.

A frequent guest host of NPR programs, including Weekend Edition and Talk of the Nation, Seabrook has also anchored NPR's live coverage of national party conventions and election night in 2006 and 2008.

Seabrook joined NPR in 1998 as an editorial assistant for the music program, Anthem. After serving in a variety of editorial and production positions, she moved to NPR's Mexico Bureau to work as a producer and translator, providing fill-in coverage of Mexico and Central America. She returned to NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1999 and worked on NPR's Science Desk and the NPR/National Geographic series, "Radio Expeditions." Later she moved to NPR's Morning Edition, starting as an editorial assistant and then moving up to Assistant Editor. She then began her on-air career as a weekend general assignment reporter for all NPR programs.

Before coming to NPR, Seabrook lived, studied and worked in Mexico City, Mexico. She ran audio for movies and television, and even had a bit part in a Mexican soap opera.

Seabrook earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Earlham College and studied Latin American literature at UNAM - La Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. While in college she worked at WECI, the student-run public radio station at Earlham College.

  • We imagine the lobbyist stalking the halls of Congress trying to use cash to influence important people. But often, the Congressman is stalking the lobbyist, asking for money.
  • In the last decade, Pelosi has raised close to $300 million for Democrats. We recently traveled with Pelosi on a fundraising trip.
  • Senate discussions are expected to continue on Tuesday about the $2 billion extension of the popular "cash for clunkers" auto rebate program. The White House says the incentives are unlikely to continue into the weekend, if the Senate fails to approve the extra funding already passed by the House.
  • President Obama and his advisers have been trying to bolster support for his $825 billion plan to stimulate the economy. That legislation is before a Senate committee and will be on the House floor this week. The recovery package faces some significant challenges from Republicans.
  • Crowds tightly packed the space around the inaugural stage — forming a long ribbon of people all the way to the Lincoln Memorial at the other end of the National Mall. Most of them, if they were lucky, got to see President Obama's inauguration on one of a number of Jumbotrons.
  • The Democratic Congress promised to work with the White House. But after four months, the rhetoric and the political atmosphere remain contentious. The latest example: the impasse over funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • Middle-class families are increasingly feeling the bite of the Alternative Minimum Tax. It was originally meant to target rich tax dodgers. How are families coping with the AMT?
  • Rep. Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, announces he is resigning from Congress by June. After his decision became public, Andrea Seabrook spoke the Texas Republican by phone and asked him whether he was backing away from a fight.
  • Texas Congressman Tom DeLay plans to resign his seat in the coming weeks. The Republican former House majority leader doubts his chances of winning re-election in the face of mounting political troubles.
  • House Republicans vote Thursday on a replacement for former Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the acting majority leader, is considered the frontrunner ahead of Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ). Blunt and Boehner have strong ties to Washington lobbyists. Shadegg remains a "dark horse" candidate.