Jennifer Bendery

Jennifer Lee Bendery is an American political journalist whose focus has been on Capitol Hill and the White House, including coverage of U.S. policy regarding women and minorities – particularly Savanna's Act and the Violence Against Women Act.

Career
From 1996 to 1998, Bendery was Health Care Policy Reporter for Manisses Communications Group in Providence, Rhode Island. From 1999 to 2002, she was the marketing and promotions manager in San Francisco for the Religion and Nonprofit book series at Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons. From 2003 to 2007, she covered the Texas Legislature for GalleryWatch, Austin Bureau. During that period, Bendery, in 2005, completed an M.A. degree in English literature at San Francisco State University. From 2007 to 2011, she was a Congressional and White House staff reporter for Roll Call. Since 2011, Bendery has written for the HuffPost, where she is currently Senior Politics Reporter.

Selected articles

 * January 29, 2020, Bendery authored a story in the HuffPost that included a list of U.S. House and Senate members who had tested positive for COVID-19.
 * April 20, 2021, Bendery broke the story in the HuffPost that Congressman Jeff Fortenberry made emergency calls to the U.S. Capitol Police to test response time. The exercise roused the ire of Capitol Police personnel.

Bendery's subjects

 * Affirmative action
 * Discrimination
 * Employment Non-Discrimination Act
 * Gender inequality
 * LGBTQ rights
 * Paycheck Fairness Act
 * Racial inequality
 * Savanna's Act
 * United States federal judges
 * Violence Against Women Act

Bendery has authored articles criticizing aspects of the following:


 * Alliance Defending Freedom
 * Center for Security Policy

Professional affiliations

 * President, Washington Press Club Foundation. Bendery has been a member of the foundation for (since September 2013). She served as president for two terms, co-chair of the Congressional Dinner committee for two years and Vice President for two years.
 * Player, Congressional Women's Softball Game. Bendery is a longtime participant in the annual charity softball game between members of the United States Congress and female journalists.

Family
Bendery is the niece of journalist Robert Bassett Whitcomb, Jr. (born 1947) of The Providence Journal.