Patrick Svitek

Washington, D.C.

Education: Northwestern University, B.S. in journalism

Patrick Svitek is a reporter on National’s politics breaking news team. He joined The Washington Post in 2024. He previously worked at The Texas Tribune for nine years, most recently serving as its primary political correspondent. Before that, he was a reporter in the Houston Chronicle’s Austin bureau. He grew up in Connecticut and Indiana and previously lived in Austin and San Antonio.
Latest from Patrick Svitek

Harris, Trump attend 9/11 events after contentious debate

Get the latest news from the 2024 campaign trail as Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump hold events a day after they debated in Philadelphia.

September 11, 2024

Harris and Trump to face off in presidential debate in Philadelphia

Get the latest news from the 2024 campaign trail as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump prepare to meet in the highly anticipated presidential debate hosted by ABC news on Tuesday.

September 10, 2024

Harris, Trump in final stages of preparation for high-stakes debate

Get the latest news from the 2024 campaign trail in the contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.

September 9, 2024

Trump signals support for Biden plan to loosen marijuana restrictions

The former president suggests he wants to see marijuana reclassified as a Schedule III drug, the first time Trump has endorsed the easing of federal restrictions.

September 9, 2024
Marijuana plants wait to be trimmed at the Verano cultivation facility in Jessup, Md., on June 14, 2023.

Former vice president Dick Cheney says he will vote for Kamala Harris

Dick Cheney served as George W. Bush’s No. 2 and epitomized the Republican Party for decades.

September 6, 2024
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) arrives, with her father, former vice president Dick Cheney, to vote at the Teton County Library in Jackson Hole, Wyo., during the Republican primary election on Aug. 16, 2022.

Trump takes no questions at lengthy news conference on his legal cases

Get the latest news from the 2024 campaign trail in the contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.

September 6, 2024

Police dispute claims — echoed by Trump — that gang controls Colorado complex

The interim police chief in Aurora, Colo., said recently that a Venezuelan gang has “not taken over” a complex as some Republicans have claimed.

September 6, 2024
Resident Jaun Carlos Jimenez, center left, listens as Jeraldine Mazo, center right, speaks during a rally staged by the East Colfax Community Collective in Aurora, Colo., to address chronic problems in apartment buildings occupied by people displaced from their home countries in Central and South America.

Trump offers confusing plan to pay for U.S. child care with foreign tariffs

Trump made the comments Thursday at an event in New York City where he promised to lead a “national economic renaissance.”

September 6, 2024

Georgia school shooting elevates gun violence as issue in Harris-Trump race

The shooting came as the two presidential candidates have been campaigning most prominently on issues including the economy, abortion rights and immigration.

September 6, 2024

Trump delivers economic speech; Harris in Pittsburgh for debate prep

Get the latest news from the 2024 campaign trail in the contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.

September 5, 2024