Luke Russert is leaving NBC, political reporting, effective Friday


Luke Russert joined NBC News as a politics reporter in 2008, fresh out of college and just six weeks after the sudden death of his father, veteran NBC newsman Tim Russert. On Wednesday, Russert and NBC announced that the congressional correspondent, now 31, has decided to leave the network, effective Friday. In a statement, Russert said he is not moving to a rival network but instead "taking some time away from political reporting" and pondering what to do with the rest of his life.
The sudden departure of a high-profile TV regular raised eyebrows in Washington and on Capitol Hill, CNNMoney reports, but friends and colleagues say that Russert is just bored and restless and looking for a change, or at least the chance to see if he wants a change. "It's fair to say my broadcast career began in an unusual way after college graduation and the death of my father," Russert said in his statement. "As a result, I threw myself into the work and never took the time to reflect, to travel, and to experience many things that would have given me a clearer sense of what my future should be."
NBC said that Russert, whose first assignment was the 2008 conventions, is leaving on Friday because as a congressional reporter he's not scheduled to cover the Republican and Democratic conventions starting next week, and because Russert wanted to leave now.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages