Washington Post White House reporter Felicia Sonmez is leaving the paper and heading to China, according to a memo from national editor Cameron Barr and national political editor Steven Ginsberg.
Felicia Sonmez is leaving The Post to pursue her goal of reporting from China, a country she knows well after spending a year in Beijing as a teacher several years ago.
Felicia joined The Post in May 2010 as a political blogger for The Fix, immediately demonstrating sharp news judgment and a facility for crisp writing. After the midterm election, she moved to Capitol Hill, where she created and anchored the 2chambers blog, which quickly developed a large audience.
She became lead writer for the Election 2012 blog early last year, filing dispatches from around the country. Not content with appearing only in our many text-driven formats, Felicia also anchored Trail Mix, a daily video series on the campaign.
In the summer of 2012 she joined the team of Post reporters covering the Romney bid and was the main reporter covering GOP vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan. At a soup kitchen where Ryan stopped to wash dishes, she memorably reported that the patrons had long gone and the facility was already clean; backpedalling ensued. She moved over to the White House beat in early 2013.
Through it all, Felicia has been an indefatigable and gracious colleague, often ahead of the news and always ready to jump on anything breaking.
We're confident she'll prosper in China.Her last day is Friday and we'll wish her well with cake at 3:00 pm, followed by drinks at Mio at 6:30 pm.
Cameron Steven