James Arkin is a congressional reporter with RealClearPolitics. Since 2015, James has been the sole reporter covering Capitol Hill for RCP, breaking news and writing deeply reported pieces on the inner workings of both the Senate and House of Representatives. He has broken news on a variety of major stories in the Capitol, including the end of the bipartisan push for criminal justice reform in the summer of 2016; the efforts by Senators Tim Kaine and Jeff Flake to bring up a vote on an authorization for the use of military force in the war against ISIS; and the growing concern among Republicans over the slow pace of nominations by President Trump. He also covered House and Senate campaigns in the 2016 election cycle, writing enterprise reports on different Senate contests, Democrats’ efforts to retake chambers of Congress, and Republican efforts to handle the unorthodox Trump campaign.

Before joining RCP, James received a Master’s from the of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a focus in magazine writing and editing. He previously graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Medill with a second major in Political Science. His work has appeared in in print and online for BuzzFeed, Politico, The Washington Post, the Columbus Dispatch, the New York Daily News, and the Medill News Service in Chicago and Washington, DC, as well as a variety of sports blogs and websites.

He has also worked as Political Director for the Northwestern News Network, a student television program. He previously held the role of sports producer and has anchored both sports and politics shows for the program. He has participated in live sports broadcasts for the Big Ten Network as an analyst, director, producer and cameraman.

Outside reporting, his interests include spending my time avidly following his favorite sporting teams: The Ohio State Buckeyes, the Northwestern Wildcats, and the Cleveland Indians/Cavaliers/Browns while trying to maintain some hint of optimist, which becomes increasingly difficult with each new season.

Follow James on twitter: @jamesarkin