Pam Fessler
Pam Fessler is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where she covers poverty, philanthropy, and voting issues.
In her reporting at NPR, Fessler does stories on homelessness, hunger, affordable housing, and income inequality. She reports on what non-profit groups, the government, and others are doing to reduce poverty and how those efforts are working. Her poverty reporting was recognized with a 2011 First Place National Headliner Award.
Fessler also covers elections and voting, including efforts to make voting more accessible, accurate, and secure. She has done countless stories on everything from the debate over state voter identification laws to Russian hacking attempts and long lines at the polls.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Fessler became NPR's first Homeland Security correspondent. For seven years, she reported on efforts to tighten security at ports, airports, and borders, and the debate over the impact on privacy and civil rights. She also reported on the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, The 9/11 Commission Report, Social Security, and the Census. Fessler was one of NPR's White House reporters during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Before becoming a correspondent, Fessler was the acting senior editor on the Washington Desk and NPR's chief election editor. She coordinated all network coverage of the presidential, congressional, and state elections in 1996 and 1998. In her more than 25 years at NPR, Fessler has also been deputy Washington Desk editor and Midwest National Desk editor.
Earlier in her career, she was a senior writer at Congressional Quarterly magazine. Fessler worked there for 13 years as both a reporter and editor, covering tax, budget, and other news. She also worked as a budget specialist at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and was a reporter at The Record newspaper in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Fessler has a master's of public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from Douglass College in New Jersey.
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Under the rule, officials would weigh whether a green card applicant will be self-sufficient. The rule had been set to go into effect on Oct. 15. It's now blocked by three preliminary injunctions. -
Advocacy groups are trying to help immigrants navigate the Trump administration's rule change that says legal immigrants will be less likely to be able to stay in the U.S. if they use public benefits. -
Advocacy groups are trying to educate immigrants about the Trump administration's rule change that says legal immigrants will be less likely to be able to stay in the U.S. if they use public benefits.
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California leaders called these claims "political retribution" and denied that the homeless crisis is affecting environmental issues. -
While the poverty rate finally fell to prerecession levels in 2018, the number of people without health insurance increased, and about one in eight Americans still lived below the poverty line. -
Some 14 million U.S. households are struggling to get enough to eat — a return to pre-recession levels. The USDA data comes as the Trump administration proposes tightening eligibility for food aid. -
Pennsylvania and other states are working through grants from Congress to upgrade their voting machines and other equipment. Advocates say more work is needed — and billions more dollars. -
Low-income Americans who use government safety net programs could be affected by a number of proposed rules and actions in areas such as housing, food aid, overtime and immigration. -
The Trump administration says one reason it is tightening "public charge" requirements for immigrants is to save U.S. taxpayers' money. But opponents argue it will cost them more in the long run.
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Immigrant advocates are threatening to sue the Trump administration for its new rule that will make it harder for immigrants to get green cards if they use, and are likely to use, public benefits.
