Ben Pauker

Ben Pauker is the editor of the National Security team at The Washington Post. His reporters’ beats include foreign policy, defense, intelligence, transnational threats, cybersecurity and domestic extremism. Since joining the Post in October 2022, he has led coverage of the Discord Leaks, the highly classified secrets shared online allegedly by former Airman Jack Teixeira. He served as National Security and World editor at Politico in 2021-2022, where he was responsible for coverage of diplomacy, defense and Canada, coordinating staff in Washington with more than 100 reporters and editors across Europe. At Politico, his team of reporters broke dozens of nationally recognized stories, including scoops on Jan. 6, 2021, the inside account of the Biden administration’s struggle to contain Kabul’s collapse and the ill-fated U.S.-Ukraine-Poland fighter jet deal. His team also landed the leaked draft opinion that foretold the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Before joining Politico, Pauker was managing editor for Vox, overseeing all web content and the newsroom of journalists and editors, including teams that covered politics and policy, Washington, foreign and tech. He served for seven years as a top editor at Foreign Policy magazine, overseeing coverage of Washington and the world that garnered multiple National Magazine awards and nominations, three Overseas Press Club of America awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Award and a George Polk Award for feature photography. Ben also served as managing editor of World Policy Journal in New York. He has reported or written for Harper’s, the Chicago Tribune, Frontline/World and the Economist, among other publications. He lives in Washington with his partner, Lindsay, and their two children.