The Definitive SourceAnnouncements

Nomaan Merchant named US politics editor

In a memo to staff on Tuesday, Washington Bureau Chief Anna Johnson and Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Steven Sloan announced a key appointment:

We are thrilled to announce that Nomaan Merchant will take on a new assignment as U.S. politics editor, a role that is central to the AP’s mission of providing comprehensive, nonpartisan coverage of U.S. politics and elections.

Nomaan is well known inside the AP, where he’s held a variety of critical reporting roles over the past decade. He’s covered law enforcement in Dallas and worked as a general assignment reporter in Beijing. He returned to Texas to cover immigration and border affairs from Houston. More recently, he has worked in the Washington bureau since 2021, focusing on intelligence and national security reporting.

Nomaan Merchant. (AP Photo)

This blend of domestic and international experience puts Nomaan in a strong position to tackle this challenging assignment: helping shape coverage of U.S. politics heading into next year’s presidential election. In this role, he will work closely with teams in Washington, U.S. News and international bureaus to produce a newsy, sophisticated political report.

Nomaan joins a team of strong politics editors, including Ashley Thomas, who will continue her focus on breaking news and explanatory journalism, and Tom Verdin, the democracy news editor. Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Steven Sloan will continue to oversee the AP’s coverage overall of U.S. politics, elections and democracy.

Please join us in congratulating Nomaan on his new role! He will start on Aug. 21.

Anna and Steven

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