Managing Editor, Energy & Environment and People

Mike Magner

A native of South Bend, Ind., and a graduate of Georgetown University, Mike Magner has been a journalist for more than 35 years. He worked for the Kalamazoo Gazette, the Newhouse Newspapers Washington Bureau and an environmental news service before joining National Journal in February 2007.

Mike Magner's Latest Posts

The Art and Agony of Oversight

By Mike Magner

What many consider to be the golden age of congressional oversight can be summed up by a word coined but no longer heard much on Capitol Hill: “Dingell-gram.” Read More »

Ralph Nader’s Newest Crusade: Raising the Minimum Wage

By Mike Magner

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader has a new crusade for 2013—raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour, where it has stagnated since President Obama took office in 2009. Read More »

PEOPLE

On the Move: March 23, 2013

By Christopher Snow Hopkins and Mike Magner

Kelly Nallen is American Crossroads' new director of digital. Former Hillary Clinton collaborator Kris Balderston is a senior partner at Fleishman-Hillard. Onetime DeLay policy director Juliane Sullivan heads the House Education and...

Berman Joins Covington; Ambassador Returns

By Mike Magner

Four new members have been appointed to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, which provides grants to projects that increase public access to historical records. Read More »

PEOPLE

New Pope Draws Praise and Prayers From Washington

By Mike Magner and Christopher Snow Hopkins

President Obama wrapped up a rare meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday afternoon by giving his adversaries a piece of news. “I made the announcement that we saw smoke,” the president told reporters as he left the Capitol ...

Lieberman and Kyl to Lead Project on America’s Global Role

By Mike Magner

Juliane Sullivan , a onetime policy director for ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, will become the new director of the Republican staff for the House Education and the Workforce Committee on Monday. Read More »

PEOPLE

Filmmaker Lori Silverbush Tackles Nation’s Hunger Problem in ‘A Place at the Table’

By Mike Magner

While she was mentoring a young girl in East Harlem, N.Y., filmmaker Lori Silverbush received a disturbing call from a teacher who said the 12-year-old was spotted foraging through the trash at school for food. Read More »

PEOPLE

On the Move

By Christopher Snow Hopkins and Mike Magner

Angela Rye launches a new lobby shop, Impact Strategies. Domingo Herraiz is Motorola's new VP of North American government affairs. Campaign insider Tharon Johnson joins McKenna Long & Aldridge. Read More »

TRANSPORTATION

Dreaded Yellow Light May Be Trap for Traffic Violations

By Mike Magner

The timing of yellow lights on traffic signals at many intersections is purposely set to a minimum so more drivers can be ticketed for running red lights, the National Motorists Association warns. Read More »

BP Accepts $4.5B Spill Settlement

By Mike Magner

BP agrees to $4.5 billion settlement of criminal charges in Gulf spill. Read More »

CONGRESS

Food-Policy Votes Placed in the Spotlight

By Mike Magner

Advocates for reforming the nation’s food programs and policies have joined the congressional ratings game, scoring the voting records of every member of the House and Senate on issues ranging from food safety and school lunche...

Romney’s ‘Consigliere’ Knows How He Thinks

By Mike Magner

This time around, Beth Myers is in exactly the right position for Mitt Romney’s presidential run, say colleagues of the senior adviser to the former Massachusetts governor. Read More »

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

Forgotten Marines

By Mike Magner

The bonds between former Marines are as strong as steel—and become even stronger when they share the belief that the Pentagon has done them wrong. Such is the case among thousands of Marine families who spent time at Camp Lejeune,...

PEOPLE

Exposing Military Predators

By Mike Magner

A glaring spotlight will be turned on one of the darkest corners of military life this weekend when a gut-wrenching documentary on rape and sexual assault among the troops premieres in Washington. Read More »

Houston Confab Explores Offshore Development

By Mike Magner

The world of offshore drilling will be concentrated in Houston next week for an annual conference on technology expected to draw 70,000 participants from more than 100 countries. Read More »

ENVIRONMENT

Two Years After BP Oil Spill, Marine Life in the Gulf of Mexico Still Reels

By Mike Magner

Dying dolphins, disappearing insects, and smothered coral in the Gulf of Mexico are among the continuing impacts of the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. Read More »

PEOPLE

The Planet’s Green Conscience

By Mike Magner

Two days in the D.C. lockup last summer probably won’t go down as one of the best experiences in Bill McKibben ’s long career as an environmental activist. Read More »

WHITE HOUSE

President Takes Aim at Oil Markets, Critics

By Mike Magner

In a Rose Garden speech aimed at critics who blame him for high gasoline prices, President Obama announced a crackdown on oil-market trading that most analysts say has only a minor impact on prices at the pump. Read More »

ENVIRONMENT

Senate Passes Measure Directing BP Fines For Gulf Region

By Mike Magner

The Gulf of Mexico could see a substantial amount of money for future restoration work as a result of Senate approval on Thursday of an amendment to the transportation authorization bill. The chamber voted 76-22 to direct that 80...

Obama Says Holder Looking At Oil Market Speculation

By Mike Magner

President Obama said he's asked Attorney General Eric Holder to reconstitute a task force examining whether speculation in oil markets is artificially driving up oil and gasoline prices. Read More »

ENVIRONMENT

Final Chapters Being Written in BP’s Gulf Disaster

By Mike Magner

In a major move toward putting an environmental catastrophe behind it, BP has agreed to a $7.8 billion settlement with thousands of individuals and businesses seeking damages from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Read More »

ENERGY

Leaders of Energy World Gather in Texas

By Mike Magner

One of the world’s biggest and most influential conferences on energy will be held Monday through Friday in Houston just as political rhetoric reaches a peak in the United States on the costs and availability of oil and gasoline, ...

Runner-Up Santorum Praises Professional Women in Family

By Mike Magner

The runner-up in Republican presidential primaries in Arizona and Michigan on Tuesday, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, used his concession speech to highlight the professional women in his family. Read More »

Ron Paul and his security in Minneapolis

CAMPAIGN 2012

Feisty Ron Paul Hangs in Despite Poor Showings in Michigan, Arizona

By Mike Magner

Despite third- and fourth-place finishes in Republican presidential primaries in Michigan and Arizona on Tuesday evening, Rep. Ron Paul , R-Texas, showed no signs of letting up in his campaign for reining in government and restorin...

PEOPLE

John Von Kannon: Spotlight Shines on Conservative Icon

By Mike Magner

This is how deeply rooted John Von Kannon is in the conservative movement: At the age of 15, growing up in Indiana, he organized the first precinct in the state to campaign for Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona as the Republican nom...

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

From Cow Town to Super City

By Mike Magner

Hoosiers growing up in the ’60s and ’70s liked to joke that Indiana ranked 50th in the United States in tourism, even though the statistic was more rural myth than real data. Read More »

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith

TECHNOLOGY

White House Vows to Protect Web Openness While Fighting Online Piracy

By Mike Magner

The White House on Saturday made clear that it will oppose any legislation to crack down on digital theft and counterfeiting that would diminish the openness of the Internet. Read More »

PEOPLE

Fighting Back for Entitlements

By Mike Magner

Although entitlement programs are now facing a flurry of potential cuts, they were already considered to be under siege last spring at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare when the lobbying group’s longt...

DEFENSE

Former Rep. Chris Carney Lands Defense Contracting Job

By Mike Magner

Former Rep. Chris Carney, D-Pa., has landed a top job in the Washington offices of BAE Systems, less than a year after helping the British defense contractor secure a $1.6 million earmark and increase military procurement at a plant...

Causes and Effects of the FAA Shutdown

By Lara Seligman

In addition to leaving 4,000 workers furloughed, the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration has also halted more than 250 regional aviation development projects and caused thousands of constructions workers to lo...

Unfinished Business: Congress Leaving Mess at FAA

By Mike Magner

Before the meltdown on the debt limit, there was the collapse of an agreement to reauthorize programs at the Federal Aviation Administration. So the first symptoms of the dysfunction in Congress showed up not on Wall Street or Main ...

PEOPLE

The Accidental Admiral

By Mike Magner

His career may be defined by his role as the government’s point man on last year’s BP oil spill, but retired Adm. Thad Allen ’s four decades in the Coast Guard could fill a book with many dramatic chapters. Read More »

Q&A

John Cruden: The Potomac We Dream Of

By Mike Magner

The Justice Department’s former top environmental litigator discusses his job. Read More »

PEOPLE

A History of Political Caricatures

By Mike Magner

One of the casualties of the Republican Revolution, which began when the GOP won control of the House in the 1994 elections and Newt Gingrich became speaker, was a three-part series for PBS on the history of political cartoons in America. Read More »

EARTH WEEK

Carper Keeps His Eyes on the Skies

By Mike Magner

When he was Delaware state treasurer in the 1970s, Sen. Thomas Carper made a reputation for cleaning up the state’s once-dismal financial ratings. Now as chairman of a key Senate subcommittee, Carper is on a crusade to clean ...

EARTH DAY SPECIAL REPORT

BP Faces Spillover Effects

By Mike Magner

The worst may be yet to come for BP. Potential criminal charges and years of civil litigation could await the energy giant, with billions of dollars at stake. Read More »

PEOPLE

Ragalie, Glick Leading the Healthy-Kid Brigade

By Mike Magner

A little more than a year since first lady Michelle Obama launched the “Let’s Move” campaign, the national drive to end childhood obesity is shifting into high gear. Read More »

PEOPLE

Posner, a `Quintessential Wire Service Reporter,’ Dies at 79

By Mike Magner

Mike Posner, a veteran Washington journalist known affectionately to his colleagues as “Poz,” died last week after a battle with leukemia. He was 79. Read More »

PEOPLE

When People Say ‘Cheese,’ He Smiles

By Mike Magner

Not since the Green Bay Packers won the 1997 Super Bowl have “cheeseheads” made the news as much as they did last month after the New York Times ran a Sunday front page story headlined: “While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes ...

The New Power Players

By Matthew Cooper, Major Garrett, Meghan McCarthy, Dan Friedman, Billy House, Mike Magner, , Naureen Khan, Fawn Johnson, Amy Harder, Coral Davenport, Megan Scully, Chris Strohm, Susan Davis, Aamer Madhani, Alex Roarty, Ben Terris and Matthew DoBias

They’re members of Congress, Hill aides, policy wonks, and lobbyists. They’re the same people they were before November 2, but the election makes them more important. Read More »

PEOPLE

Sharma Takes A Stand

By Mike Magner

A chilling statistic drives Ritu Sharma in her life's work: One out of every three women, both in the United States and throughout the world, is a victim of assault, rape, murder or some other violent act or, all too often, multiple acts. Read More »

PEOPLE

The Doctor Is In

By Mike Magner

The chairman of the President's Cancer Panel, venerable Howard University surgeon LaSalle Leffall , spent his last few days of summer in Helsinki, Finland. But he wasn't feasting on fish and frolicking through fjords. Read More »

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

A Slick Response

By Mike Magner and Margaret Amisano

Just as the recreational boating season was hoisting its sails this spring, the Coast Guard -- responsible for marine safety in U.S. waters -- was faced with one of its biggest challenges in its 220-year history. Read More »

PEOPLE

On The Road

By Mike Magner

Congress hasn't paid much attention to intellectual property rights this year, so the leader of the Copyright Alliance has decided to high-tail it out of town. Read More »

PEOPLE

People

By Mike Magner and Siddhartha Mahanta

RAYTHEON VEEP. Mark T. Esper has been named vice president of government relations for Raytheon Co. He joins the company from the Global Intellectual Property Center, where he was executive vice president, and from a stint as vice...

Coat Of Farms

By Mike Magner

A sure sign of summer on Capitol Hill is the blue jacket with gold trim worn by hundreds of teenage Future Farmers of America as they visit lawmakers during their annual Washington Leadership Conference. Read More »

PEOPLE

Aristotelian Path

By Mike Magner

Few people in Washington know as much about the complex web of federal campaign finance rules as former FEC Chairman David Mason. So it was not surprising when Aristotle, a leading provider of campaign software and political databas...

A Finnished Product

By Mike Magner

When it comes to problem-solving, Finland's got it going on. Marco Steinberg, an architect who runs a unique Helsinki workshop using "strategic design" to tackle complex issues, says the Scandinavian nation's size (pop. 5.25 million...

Keeper At The Door

By Mike Magner

He was the guardian at the gates of the House Democratic cloakroom for 38 years, yet Herb Shanks said he really has no favorites among the thousands of lawmakers who passed by his post. Read More »

HEALTH

Grassroots, Lobbyists Pressure Congress On School Lunch

By Mike Magner and Jackie Clews

There are the Angry Moms like Rachael Hilliker of Michigan, who became an activist on improving school lunches when she found the prisons in her state had higher nutrition standards than her local schools. Read More »

PEOPLE

People

By Mike Magner and Christopher Snow Hopkins

HEADED TO LOWE'S. After eight years working for Colorado lawmakers, Craig Rushing is headed to Mooresville, N.C., to become government affairs manager for home improvement retailer Lowe's. The North Carolina native started on Capi...

People

By Christopher Snow Hopkins and Mike Magner

TAX WOMAN. Stacey Rolland has been named by House Speaker Pelosi as her new policy adviser on tax issues. Rolland comes to the Democratic leader's staff from the Treasury Department, where she worked in the Office of Legislative...

The Role Of Ambassador

By Mike Magner

In the new movie "Iron Man 2," Don Cheadle plays James (Rhodey) Rhodes, a tough military officer who is one of the superhero's closest confidants and who becomes an armor-clad hero himself known as the War Machine. Read More »

PEOPLE

Papers, Please

By Mike Magner

All the data and documents produced by a congressional office represent a little slice of history, and Jan Zastrow is doing her best to ensure that at least some of the mountain of paperwork on Capitol Hill is properly preserved. Read More »

PEOPLE

People

By Gregg Sangillo and Mike Magner

IN ACCORD. Tom Lawler has signed on as a principal with the Accord Group, a Washington-based government relations shop that specializes in energy and environment, infrastructure and science policy. From 2005-08, Lawler was a senio...

Up In The Airport

By Mike Magner

Two of the most important institutions in the Washington area for lawmakers on Capitol Hill are Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport. Read More »