Karen Tumulty is TIME National Political Correspondent based out of Washington DC, where she covers national political developments for the magazine. Since assuming that position in 2001, Tumulty has written cover stories on topics that range from America's love-or-hate relationship with President George Bush, to the unlikely ascendancy of Howard Dean, to Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid for the governorship for California. Previously, she was the magazine's White House Correspondent and during the 2000 election season, Tumulty was the primary correspondent covering Al Gore's campaign. She makes frequent appearances on television, including CNN, CBS and PBS.

She joined TIME in October 1994 and covered Congress for two years before moving to the White House, where she was part of the magazine's team covering President Clinton's impeachment. From the White House, Tumulty also wrote major stories on Hillary Rodham Clinton, including a profile of the First Lady that was part of TIME's 1998 "Men of the Year" package on Bill Clinton and Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. During her earlier stint on Capitol Hill, Tumulty also reported and wrote TIME's 1995 "Man of the Year" profile of Newt Gingrich.

Before coming to TIME, Tumulty spent 14 years with the Los Angeles Times, where she worked out of Los Angeles, New York and Washington, covering Congress, economics, business, energy, and general-assignment beats.  While at the Times, she won the Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business and financial journalism (1982) and the National Press Foundation Edwin Hood Award for diplomatic correspondence (1993).

Tumulty is a native of San Antonio, Texas, where she began her career at the now-defunct San Antonio Light.  She holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism with high honors from the University of Texas and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.