Christina Bellantoni

Los Angeles

@USCAnnenberg journalism professor / Find me on IG: @professorbellantoni & bsky: cbellantoni / Alum of @19thnews @latimes @RollCall @NewsHour @tpm @washtimes

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Articles

Taking the grand tour of Washington

1 week ago | rollcall.com | Jason Dick |Christina Bellantoni |Neda Semnani

Former Roll Callers Christina Bellantoni and Neda Semnani have been leading their students on a tour of Washington during a time when Congress has been debating significant changes to tax and entitlement laws, such as at the House Rules Committee, shown here last week. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Hello, DC! Let’s show these 20-somethings our best this week

2 weeks ago | rollcall.com | Christina Bellantoni

It’s been nearly a decade since I left Washington for Los Angeles, and yet, as I prepared to arrive in the nation’s capital this week, it felt a bit like I was coming home. Perhaps I feel so connected to D.C. because, for awhile there, it was the city I’d lived in most of my adult life. Or more to the point, where I forged my professional path. That’s why I still push my USC Annenberg students to consider starting out here — a place with so many possibilities.
The Bernie Sanders tour puts California GOP on notice

1 month ago | rollcall.com | Christina Bellantoni

LOS ANGELES — Sen. Bernie Sanders came and went, with two California visits inspiring “Bernie-chella” headlines. He, his populist heiress — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — and organizers of their “Fighting Oligarchy” event in downtown Los Angeles boasted that at 36,000, it was the largest rally he’d ever held. The real test of political might, however, is coming this week in places like Palm Desert and Anaheim.
California rising up against Trump again, with different approach

2 months 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.
For Democrats, it’s time to get rude

Mar 4, 2025 | 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.
‘Diminished influence’: California’s missing clout

Jan 28, 2025 | 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.
From the outside in

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.
Opinion: 'Civil War' Shook Me

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.