Dasha Burns

Christina Burns^[1] (born March 1, 1992), known professionally as Dasha Burns, is an American journalist who is the White House Bureau Chief for Politico since January 2025. In July 2025, she was named the inaugural host of Ceasefire, a new program on C-SPAN that will feature representatives of opposite parties discussing how to address the nation’s problems. She previously worked as a national correspondent at NBC News from 2016 to 2025.^[2]

Dasha Burns
Burns in 2025
Born	Christina Burns (1992-03-01) March 1, 1992 (age 33) Ukraine
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BA)
Occupation	Journalist
Employers	CNN (2015–2016) NBC News (2016–2025) Politico (2025–present)
Spouse	Ben Winkel ​ (m. 2019)​

Early life and education

Burns immigrated from Ukraine when she was eight years old.^[3] Dasha Burns grew up in San Diego. She graduated from La Costa Canyon High School in 2010 and went on to attend the University of California, Berkeley,^[4][5] graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in media studies and anthropology.^[6][7] In college she was a producer at CalTV,^[8] acted in university plays on campus,^[9][10] and served as a Matsui Center fellow at the United Nations Information Center Washington in 2014.^[11][6]

Career

Burns interviews Scott Spellmon, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2022

After graduating, through 2016, Burns worked as a media writer and strategist for a consulting agency, while writing opinion pieces for CNN.^[12][13]

From May 2016, Burns worked as an associate producer and then producer for the NBC television morning news and talk program Weekend Today.^[2] In March 2019 she became a television reporter for NBC News, reporting from the field.^[2] In February 2022, Burns was promoted from the County to County project, to correspondent focusing on the 2022 United States elections in Pennsylvania and Ohio.^[14]

In October 2022, Burns was the first journalist to have an in-depth face to face interview with Pennsylvania senatorial candidate John Fetterman since his stroke.^[15] National Review reported that Fetterman's wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, accused the reporter of ableism and said that Burns should face "consequences" for the interview.^[16] After Fetterman debated Republican candidate Mehmet Oz, several members of the media said that Burns was owed an apology from Gisele Fetterman and members of the media.^[17]

Burns will continue to serve as Politico's White House bureau chief while hosting Ceasefire. C-SPAN CEO Sam Feist has said the show will be a departure from the public affairs network's usual programming because it will focus on finding constructive solutions rather than emphasizing partisan differences. "At the end of the day, Americans and members of Congress agree more than they disagree,” said Feist when he announced Burns as host. “We just never see that on television, and you rarely see that on the floor of Congress. And I wanted to change that.”

Personal life

In March and April 2020, Burns shared her experience of missing work due to contracting the COVID-19 virus.^[18][19]

In 2019, she married Ben Winkel.^[20][21]