Hello! I'm a managing editor with @washingtonsun. You can email me: mattberman@washsun.com

Brooklyn, NY
Matt Berman retweeted
Trump responds to our reporting, that White House attorneys are weighing whether to issue mass pardons to junior staffers, as allies push them to protect lower-ranked officials from prosecution and other legal challenges. Link here: washingtonsun.com/whitehouse…
"Certainly I'd be allowed to" -- Trump leaves the door open to pardoning a wide swath of administration officials
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Matt Berman retweeted
SCOOP: White House lawyers weigh preemptive pardons for large numbers of junior admin staff, as MAGA allies press for protections for lower ranking aides Under discussion is pardons everyone in certain policy, like deportation Does not seem imminent washingtonsun.com/whitehouse…
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Matt Berman retweeted
How can Melania’s women’s health initiative move forward if the administration continues to cut funding for research? That’s what women’s health researchers are asking. My latest for @washingtonsun washingtonsun.com/health/res…
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Matt Berman retweeted
Replying to @statedeptspox
We stand behind our story. Prior to publishing, we asked the State Department, in writing, to respond to allegations that “employees are being directly asked who they voted for in 2016, 2020 and 2024 before they receive promotions, and are told directly that if they have any history of donating to Democrats that they will not be eligible for the role.” The State Department did not in any way deny that those incidents occurred. Instead, it said that the department values “fidelity,” that it “will not tolerate . . . people using their positions to actively undermine the duly elected President’s objectives,” and that it prioritizes “merit and reward[s] demonstrated performance on behalf of Administration priorities.” After the story was published – and after members of Congress raised concerns based on the story – the State Department gave additional comment denying the “premise” of our reporting. We published this after-the-fact statement in full. And since publishing, we have heard from additional sources familiar with top State officials asking foreign service officers about their voting and political contribution histories.
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Matt Berman retweeted
Replying to @statedeptspox
We stand behind our story. Prior to publishing, we asked the State Department, in writing, to respond to allegations that “employees are being directly asked who they voted for in 2016, 2020 and 2024 before they receive promotions, and are told directly that if they have any history of donating to Democrats that they will not be eligible for the role.” The State Department did not in any way deny that those incidents occurred. Instead, it said that the department values “fidelity,” that it “will not tolerate . . . people using their positions to actively undermine the duly elected President’s objectives,” and that it prioritizes “merit and reward[s] demonstrated performance on behalf of Administration priorities.” After the story was published – and after members of Congress raised concerns based on the story – the State Department gave additional comment denying the “premise” of our reporting. We published this after-the-fact statement in full. And since publishing, we have heard from additional sources familiar with top State officials asking foreign service officers about their voting and political contribution histories.
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Matt Berman retweeted
Pete Buttigieg has done more than 50 events for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot this year -- and that's before an aggressive 10-day sprint before Nov. 3 washingtonsun.com/campaigns/…
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Matt Berman retweeted
Supporters in OH told me age & tenure in Washington doesn't matter. Their mantra: "We need fighting blood", not "new blood." Brown & Kaptur have fought that fight. Now the issue is whether Rs unyielding ads about how old they are will turn voters away. washingtonsun.com/campaigns/…
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this is the true version of the Trump mental acuity test
I mean, just an all-time TV segment. Making Chuck do Who He Play For multiple times in a row with the same players is a brilliant idea and I was legit crying laughing by the end, my god.
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Matt Berman retweeted
NEW: In one of the most competitive districts that Democrats are trying to flip, incumbent @monica4congress against Tejano music star Bobby Pulido in a majority-Latino district where President Donald Trump made stunning gains the last time he ran. How De La Cruz navigates the next stretch could determine how both parties approach Latino voters nationally in the coming years. washingtonsun.com/campaigns/…
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Matt Berman retweeted
NEW: HHS still hasn’t learned its lesson about double-checking sources. A federal labor agency flagged so many problems in a recent arbitration filing that it suggested the HHS used AI to the brief. me for @washingtonsun washingtonsun.com/agencies/h…
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Aspiring Journalists! Join us Oct 23, 1 pm for our free webinar "Cover Letters & Email Introductions" w/moderator @marykbruce and amazing panel @Mr_Berman @davecclarke @diruggiero @audreytaylor2 @aterkel with advice on best practices rsvp: programs@wpcf.org
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Matt Berman retweeted
SCOOP: The State Dept has started asking career diplomats up for promotion if they voted for Trump in 16, 20, 24. Federal law prohibits politically based hiring for career staff. State tells @washingtonsun it's screening for "fidelity" and execution of the president's vision👇
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Matt Berman retweeted
Obviously a super strong number for Ager, suspiciously so, but not entirely inconsistent with some of what we were told about this race washingtonsun.com/campaigns/…
PollVault/Emerson poll | 10/12-10/14 LV US House 2026 | North Carolina’s 11th congressional district (Trump +9 | 2024) 🟦Jamie Ager 56% 🟥Jennifer Balkcom 43% —— US Senate North Carolina 2026 (NC-11) 🟦Roy Cooper +15 (54-39-3)
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Matt Berman retweeted
Flock Safety hired two new lobbying firms and significantly increased its federal lobbying spending in recent months as backlash to its AI-powered vehicle-surveillance technology boiled over. washingtonsun.com/technology…
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Matt Berman retweeted
NEW: Republicans are increasingly worried that NC-11 - a district Trump won by nearly 10 - is already lost. Said a NC GOP operative: "The rating in the 11th District should be likely Democrat, not lean Democrat.” Sign of how deep the Dem wave could go washingtonsun.com/campaigns/…
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Matt Berman retweeted
Scoop - House Majority PAC begging donors for more cash, per private memo, as it looks to expand the map. Memo has polling from 13 districts that Trump won by 8 to 21 percentage points in 2024. All races within MOE, Ds up in half. On the map shifts: washingtonsun.com/campaigns/…
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Matt Berman retweeted
BREAKING and EXCLUSIVE: The purchase of several airplanes by the Department of Homeland Security during then-Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure is tied to an “ongoing criminal law enforcement investigation.” washingtonsun.com/legal/kris…
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Matt Berman retweeted
Scoop - DCCC pouring out its week 2 ad buys, $16M in 49 districts. *new* districts added >> AZ-02 (Trump +15) OH-10 (Trump +8) SC-01 (Trump +13) washingtonsun.com/campaigns/…
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Matt Berman retweeted
New — Democrats are turning promises to investigate Trump, his family and close circle into a fundraising pitch, a @washingtonsun analysis found. We identified 32 fundraising emails promising Trump probes in exchange for political support. Robert Garcia, the top Dem on House Oversight, accounted for 28 of them. In one email, Garcia floats subpoenas Trump’s family, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem and others if Dems retake the House. The message then asked supporters for $5. Garcia’s campaign for his own safe blue seat raised more than $700k in the third quarter, bringing his cycle total to $3.3 million. He’s also raised $1.4 million for the DCCC and more than $1 million for its Red to Blue program. The appeals raise an interesting ethics question: House rules prohibit linking campaign solicitations to official actions. But a former congressional ethics lawyer told me these emails don’t cross that line. More on how Democrats are fundraising off their promises to investigate Trumpworld: washingtonsun.com/congress/t…
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