Alec MacGillis

Reporter

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Alec MacGillis is a reporter for ProPublica, focusing on gun violence, economic inequality and the pandemic-era schools crisis. MacGillis previously reported for The New Republic, The Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun. He won the 2016 Robin Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, the 2017 Polk Award for National Reporting and the 2017 Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, The Atlantic, New York and The New York Times Magazine, among other publications.

A resident of Baltimore, MacGillis is the author of “The Cynic,” a 2014 biography of Sen. Mitch McConnell, and “Fulfillment: America in the Shadow of Amazon.”

Fact-checking Trump and Clinton on the Billionaire’s Tax Break

When the presidential candidates vowed on Sunday to eliminate the “carried-interest” loophole, they left out some important context.

How Washington Blew Its Best Chance to Fix Immigration

Three years ago, the Republican-led House was close to reaching a compromise on immigration. This is the inside story of what went wrong.

The Surreal Politics of a Billionaire’s Tax Loophole

Hillary Clinton has gone even further than Donald Trump in promising to kill a tax break that benefits some of the wealthiest people in finance. So why are private equity titans giving all their campaign money to Clinton?

‘White Trash’ — The Original Underclass

Waste people. Rubbish. Clay-eaters. Hillbillies. Two new books that reckon with the long, bleak history of the country’s white poor suggest their plight shouldn’t have caught the rest of the country off guard.

The Great Republican Crack-up

Dayton was once a bastion of the GOP establishment. The story of how the city changed helps explain the rise of Donald Trump.

How Philanthropist David Rubenstein Helped Save a Tax Break Billionaires Love

A private equity mogul lauded for patriotic donations has quietly worked to protect one source of his wealth — the carried-interest loophole.

The Referendum That Might Have Headed Off Flint’s Water Crisis

Michigan’s voters decided to scrap the kind of super-empowered emergency managers who made questionable decisions in Flint – but state lawmakers found a way to revive the program.

Why Is Mitch McConnell Picking This Fight?

What’s at stake for the majority leader in the battle over Scalia’s replacement.

‘Somebody Intervened in Washington’

How oil industry lobbyists played the long game — wearing down an overmatched federal bureaucracy to gain access to a fuel-rich corner of the Alaskan wilderness.

Who Turned My Blue State Red?

Why poor areas vote for politicians who want to slash the safety net.

More Trouble in Coal Country: Health Care at Risk for 12,000 Retired Miners and Their Families

Peabody Energy, the nation’s largest coal company, is seeking release from a pledge to pay into a health insurance fund.

Dealmakers Drop a Plan to Divert Millions from the Health Insurance of Retired Coal Miners

A bankruptcy plan for Patriot Coal Corp. would have thrown into question the medical coverage of 208 miners, wives and widows.

Is the Gun Lobby’s Power Overstated?

The National Rifle Association and other anti-gun-control groups are formidable, but political trends may be loosening their grip on lawmakers.

Bankruptcy Lawyers Strip Cash from Coal Miners’ Health Insurance

Workers often bear the brunt of the coal industry’s decline. One case stands out: 208 Indiana miners, wives and widows whose health care may fall to financial engineering.

Insurance Lobby That Fought Hillarycare and Obamacare Now Has Sturdy Bridges to Democrats

After insurers helped to torpedo Hillary Clinton’s 1993 health care reform, its lobby sought influence among Democrats through a new kind of Washington firm with ties to the Clintons.

Road Hazard: How the ‘Embarrassing’ Gas Tax Impasse Explains Washington

The main federal fund for roads and bridges runs at a deep deficit. If even red states can raise the gas tax, why can’t Congress?

Higher Ed Lobby Quietly Joins For-Profit Schools to Roll Back Tighter Rules

Traditional colleges and universities have become unlikely allies of the beleaguered for-profit industry as each group tries to fend off the government’s push for more accountability.

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