John Harris Named Top Editor at Politico

Politico said Monday that its top U.S. editor was stepping down and would be replaced by one of the publication’s co-founders, John Harris, who will also take on additional responsibilities for Politico’s international editions.

Matt Kaminski, who joined Politico nearly a decade ago from The Wall Street Journal, will conclude his tenure as editor in chief at the end of August, Goli Sheikholeslami, Politico’s chief executive, said in an email to the staff Monday.

Ms. Sheikholeslami said in her memo that the new role for Mr. Harris, who had been serving as editorial chair, would be expanded to include all of Politico’s editorial units under his purview.

“To be clear: John is not returning to a job he once had,” Ms. Sheikholeslami said. “To the contrary, he is stepping into a new role as the single top editorial executive in the company, with newsrooms in the United States and Europe reporting to him.”

Ms. Sheikholeslami said in the email that after Mr. Kaminski finished in his role, he would become editor at large at Politico and focus on writing.

It’s the latest change to the top ranks of Politico. In March, the executive editor, Dafna Linzer, who reported to Mr. Kaminski, stepped down after a year in the job. Mr. Kaminski acknowledged in an email to staff members at the time that he and Ms. Linzer “saw ourselves diverging” over Politico’s strategic direction.

Mr. Harris founded Politico with Jim VandeHei and Robert Allbritton in 2007. It was bought by the German publishing giant Axel Springer in 2021 for $1 billion.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.