Contributor

Ernest Istook

Talk Show Host, Former Congressman, Washington Times writer

Ernest Istook hosts "Istook Live!" daily from 9 am to noon, M-F. You can listen from everywhere via www.istook.com.

Ernest says he’s now “in recovery” after serving for 14 years as a U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma, and 25 years overall holding public office.

Since leaving Congress in 2007, Istook has been at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC, where he is a Distinguished Fellow. He is also a Fellow of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, where he led a Spring 2010 study group at the Kennedy School of Government, examining “Propaganda in American Politics Today.”

Ernest has been a frequent guest-host for several national radio hosts such as Bill Bennett, Mark Levin, Jerry Doyle, G. Gordon Liddy and America’s Morning News. Ernest’s daily radio commentaries are heard on the Bott Radio Network. He’s appeared as a guest on almost every major national TV news programs, and is a frequent commentator on several local radio programs scattered across the U.S.

Ernest served on the House Appropriations Committee throughout his years in Congress and chaired subcommittees in charge of funding a wide swath of the federal government, including all transportation programs, the White House, Treasury Department, Postal Service, Office of Management and Budget, and others. He also served on subcommittees overseeing Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health, Human Services and Education, and the Department of the Interior.

Ernest and his wife, Judy, have been married since 1973. He has a BA in Journalism from Baylor University and a JD from Oklahoma City University. Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, he is the grandson of immigrants to America from Hungary.