Ottawa native Hulse in town to promote his new book Saturday

A book signing reception is set this weekend for an Ottawa native’s insider examination of Washington’s battles over the U.S. Supreme Court.

Carl Hulse, a 1972 Ottawa High School graduate, will autograph copies of his new book, “Confirmation Bias” from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug, 31, at JJ’s Pub, 104 W. Main St., Ottawa.

Hulse, 64, is the chief Washington correspondent of The New York Times, one of a series of top-level journalism positions he has held at the newspaper during more than 30 years of reporting in the nation’s capital.

In his book, Hulse details the behind-the-scenes political war over the Supreme Court from Antonin Scalia’s death to the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh

Upon graduating from Illinois State University in 1976, Hulse’s first newspaper job was at the NewsTribune in La Salle. Before moving to Washington in 1985, he also reported for other Illinois and Florida newspapers, including The Daily Journal in Kankakee and the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Hulse directed the New York Times coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington and the aftermath of America's response. He also is a regular guest on national news programs and recently appeared on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher."

The author was inducted into the Ottawa High School Hall of Fame in 2011 and honored by Illinois State University’s Schools College of Arts and Sciences in 2017.

According to his publisher’s news release, Hulse’s book examines “the political fight to fill the Supreme Court seat of Antonin Scalia, an out-sized figure in life and in death, sparked a political clash which was decades in the making. Unleashing reverberations that will impact citizens for generations, it upended Senate norms, influenced the outcome of the last presidential election, injected partisanship into the high court, and eroded public trust in all three branches of government.”

With access to top federal officials, including Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid and leading members of the Senate from both parties along with Obama administration officials, Trump campaign operatives, court activists, and legal scholars, Hulse reveals behind-the-scenes maneuvers that highlight many unreported details of the court’s recent controversies.

Hulse and his wife, Kim, a veteran employee at the National Geographic Society, have two sons, Nicholas and Benjamin. In his spare time, Hulse is the drummer for a popular Washington band, The NativeMakers.