Cecilia Vega leaves ABC News to join CBS and '60 Minutes'

Cecilia Vega, a White House correspondent and weekend anchor for ABC News, is joining the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes."

CBS News announced Thursday that Vega will be a correspondent on the venerable franchise, the most watched news program on television. Openings for full-time roles on "60 Minutes" are rare and remain the most coveted positions in the TV news business.

“This is a dream come true," Vega said in a statement. "I am beyond honored to join the ranks of this legendary show and to work alongside the best reporters in journalism.”

Vega will be the first Latina correspondent on the program in its 55-year history.

"60 Minutes" has ranked in the top 10 in the weekly Nielsen ratings 17 times in the 2022-23 TV season, with an average of 9.6 million viewers.

Vega, 46, served as anchor of the Saturday edition of "ABC World News" in addition to her duties covering the White House. She will remain based in Washington.

A veteran political journalist, Vega led ABC's coverage of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Vega played a prominent role in ABC News' coverage of the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vega joined ABC News in 2011 as a Los Angeles-based correspondent.

A native of San Francisco, Vega was a reporter at KGO, the ABC station in that city. She got her start as a print reporter, working most recently at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Vega will be an addition to "60 Minutes," joining the lineup of correspondents that includes Bill Whitaker, Scott Pelley, Lesley Stahl, Sharyn Alfonsi, L. Jon Wertheim and Anderson Cooper.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.