Kirsten Berg
I cover the federal government and related national and international issues.
Have a Tip for a Story?
I’m interested in tips about records across federal agencies. I take confidentiality seriously and welcome ideas via secure email, Signal or postal mail.
What I Cover
I’ve contributed to investigations on a range of topics, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hobbled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise and ramifications of Chinese transnational repression and organized crime, and the federal judiciary’s repeated failures to provide ethical oversight for its judges.
My Background
My collaborations with colleagues at ProPublica have received numerous honors, including the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, a Selden Ring Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and medal, and recognition as a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Prior to joining ProPublica, I was an editor at Future Tense, the deputy director of the New America Fellows program and a reporter at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. I was also once an intern at ProPublica.
The Judiciary Has Policed Itself for Decades. It Doesn’t Work.
The secretive Judicial Conference is tasked with self-governance. The group, led by the Supreme Court’s chief justice, has spent decades preserving perks, defending judges and thwarting outside oversight.
Operation Fox Hunt
China sends covert teams abroad to bring back people accused — justifiably or not — of financial crimes. One New Jersey family was stalked as part of a global campaign that takes families hostage and pressures immigrants to serve as spies.
Inside the Fall of the CDC
How the world’s greatest public health organization was brought to its knees by a virus, the president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus.
How a Chinese American Gangster Transformed Money Laundering for Drug Cartels
Xizhi Li pioneered a new method that enriched Latin American drug lords and China’s elite. A DEA investigation found the Chinese government may have been involved.
What a $2 Million Per Dose Gene Therapy Reveals About Drug Pricing
Taxpayers and charities helped develop Zolgensma. Then it debuted at a record price, ushering in a new class of wildly expensive drugs. Its story upends the widely held conception that high prices reflect huge industry investments in innovation.
The Staffers Helping Elon Musk Dismantle and Downsize the U.S. Government, One Agency at a Time
Musk and his lieutenants are reshaping the government and its mission with the blessing of President Trump. ProPublica has confirmed the names and roles of more than 30 staffers affiliated with the billionaire.
The Elite Lawyers Working for Elon Musk’s DOGE Include Former Supreme Court Clerks
Much attention has been paid to the young Silicon Valley engineers working for Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, but the group has also hired high-powered legal talent.
Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been unleashed on federal agencies. ProPublica is attempting to document who is working with him and what they are doing.
“We Feel Terrorized”: What EPA Employees Say About the Decision to Stay or Go Under Trump
More than 300 career employees at the Environmental Protection Agency have left. Those who remain face a painful decision: resign or work for an administration that plans to radically reshape the EPA while reversing environmental protections.
Donald Trump’s No. 2 Pick for the EPA Represented Companies Accused of Pollution Harm
David Fotouhi, a lawyer who recently challenged a ban on asbestos, worked to roll back climate regulations and water protections while serving in the Environmental Protection Agency during Trump’s first administration.
Her Mental Health Treatment Was Helping. That’s Why Insurance Cut Off Her Coverage.
Providers, patients and even some federal judges say progress-based insurance denials harm patients at key moments of mental health treatment.
Insurers Continue to Rely on Doctors Whose Judgments Have Been Criticized by Courts
In dozens of cases ProPublica reviewed, judges found that some doctors working for these companies engaged in “selective readings” of medical evidence and “shut their eyes” to medical opinions opposing their conclusions.
Formaldehyde Causes More Cancer Than Any Other Toxic Air Pollutant. Little Is Being Done to Curb the Risk.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s attempts to reckon with formaldehyde have been repeatedly thwarted by the companies that rely on it. If the past is any guide, even modest steps toward reform are all but guaranteed to hit a dead end under Trump.
How UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage Puts Countless Americans’ Treatment at Risk
United used an algorithm system to identify patients who it determined were getting too much therapy and then limited coverage. It was deemed illegal in three states, but similar practices persist due to a patchwork of regulation.