Claudia Grisales
Claudia Grisales is a congressional reporter assigned to NPR's Washington Desk.
Before joining NPR in June 2019, she was a Capitol Hill reporter covering military affairs for Stars and Stripes. She also covered breaking news involving fallen service members and the Trump administration's relationship with the military. She also investigated service members who have undergone toxic exposures, such as the atomic veterans who participated nuclear bomb testing and subsequent cleanup operations.
Prior to Stars and Stripes, Grisales was an award-winning reporter at the daily newspaper in Central Texas, the Austin American-Statesman, for 16 years. There, she covered the intersection of business news and regulation, energy issues and public safety. She also conducted a years-long probe that uncovered systemic abuses and corruption at Pedernales Electric Cooperative, the largest member-owned utility in the country. The investigation led to the ousting of more than a dozen executives, state and U.S. congressional hearings and criminal convictions for two of the co-op's top leaders.
Grisales is originally from Chicago and is an alum of the University of Houston, the University of Texas and Syracuse University. At Syracuse, she attended the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where she earned a master's degree in journalism.
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Veterans who helped test nuclear weapons are fighting to renew a 34-year-old law meant to help compensate for the long-term health effects of their work. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has spotlighted the issue in Missouri, where generations of people have been exposed to radioactive waste tied to the Manhattan project. -
Missouri Rep. Cori Bush is teaming with two other Democrats hoping to provide a legislative lifeline to tenants facing eviction. But their bill faces some steep hurdles in Congress. -
In a House hearing Thursday, the Missouri congresswoman shared for the first time publicly her personal story of her sexual assault and subsequent abortion as a teenager. -
The Senate passed new legislation to address a spike in hate crimes and violence targeted at the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Josh Hawley was the only senator to vote against it. -
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, joined more than half of House Democrats in backing articles of impeachment. Leaders warn if the president isn't removed they will proceed. -
Congress left for an extended recess as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and may not return for several weeks. Lawmakers say their days have turned into a blur of conference calls and video chats. -
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it could be several weeks before any bipartisan legislation. She also said she would not be tested herself, despite an apparent new case among her members. -
The CARES Act offers relief to state and local governments, individuals, small and large businesses, and hospitals affected by the coronavirus crisis. -
The House speaker said a Senate agreement could be "done in the next few hours." The remarks are a boost for an approximately $2 trillion deal to revitalize an economy hobbled by the outbreak. -
The emergency relief package includes direct payments to Americans, expanded unemployment insurance, aid to large and small businesses, and significant funding for the health care industry.
