Christina Bellantoni

2 weeks ago | rollcall.com | Christina Bellantoni

California leaders might be on pace to match the number of times the state sued the first Trump administration. But it sure doesn’t feel like it out here. Instead, the state that once was a clear foil to President Donald Trump has mounted a muted defense and cautious offense. Eight years is a long time, and politicians here and in the congressional delegation say there are plenty of reasons California can’t be the loud opposition this time around.

1 month ago | rollcall.com | Christina Bellantoni

Ask a lawmaker or anyone who might have been connected to Congress 20 years ago what’s changed most in Washington and they are likely to bemoan a loss of civility, to say they yearn for the good ol’ days when Democrats and Republicans could knock one back or attend bipartisan family dinner parties even after voting against each other.

2 months ago | rollcall.com | Christina Bellantoni

This is the first Congress since 2003 that no speaker, majority or minority leader has called California home. Let that sink in for a moment. It’s the nation’s most populous state, and one that has dominated Congress in clout. But no matter the metric, California’s stature has dropped. Just over 800 days ago, Nancy Pelosi was speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy was about to ascend to his short-lived speakership and Sen. Dianne Feinstein was the longest-serving woman in the Senate.

Nov 4, 2024 | rollcall.com | Christina Bellantoni

You can’t get much more Washington insider than being the editor-in-chief of Roll Call. Like the long line of impressive people before me, I relished both the title and its perks. (Handing out the coveted Roll Call trophy at the Congressional Baseball Game is top of mind.) And as readers of my Newsroom Confidential column in 2014 and 2015 know, I loved the idea of Roll Call as the neighborhood newspaper of Capitol Hill.

Apr 12, 2024 | lamag.com | Christina Bellantoni

My son, barely four, couldn’t understand why I was transfixed in front of the television, also furiously scrolling on my feed. “Why are you crying mommy?”I looked at Maxwell and pulled him in tight as I answered: “Donald Trump just started a war.” It was January 6, 2021. It was a blunt assessment as I watched the madness unfold at the Capitol, a building where I’d forged my career as a political journalist and where so many people I cared about were working. My heart felt broken.