Heard on the Hill

As Kevin McCarthy pulled a drape off his smiling portrait at the Capitol on Tuesday, it wasn’t the only blast from the past. Crowded into Statuary Hall for the unveiling were members past and present, ranging from fierce loyalists to rivals to erstwhile friends. Even a Democrat sang the former speaker’s praises, pointing to a […]

Sen. Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate floor Monday, voting for the first time in nearly three months after an extended absence following an injury from a fall earlier this summer. “My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier,” he said […]

A man arrested near the Capitol with a 10-foot-tall guillotine in the bed of his truck was released Wednesday and charged with a misdemeanor.  Philan Tam Duy Le was arrested by Capitol Police on Tuesday after initially being approached for being parked illegally in a permit-only parking spot near the Library of Congress. According to […]

“A lot of 10 a.m. meetings are about to get blown up,” a cable television news producer said as Washington area police and first responders converged Thursday morning on E Street NW, near Union Station. That’s because a police chase that started in Prince George’s County, Md., and ended in the alley connecting the Kimpton […]

GENEVA, Ohio, and JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — Unburdened by a Congress on summer break, President Donald Trump on Tuesday watched his Patriot Games finale like a stoic Roman emperor.  But he was soon reminded that congressional business looms, and acknowledged the 80th Congress built a legal wall that could spell a dead end for […]

It’s expected to be the final week before full-on August recess (fingers crossed). As the Senate raced to wrap up, a committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination moved out of committee. And candidates for the GOP nomination to replace Sen. Lindsey Graham on the ballot […]

Sen. Chris Murphy never thought he’d see the day when Alexander Calder’s “Mountains and Clouds” sculpture in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building would be complete.  But when the Senate returns from August recess, he said Calder’s “clouds” will be there to greet him. “I felt like I was going to retire from […]

When Colorado Republican Rep. Jeff Crank introduced legislation last week aiming to crack down on members of Congress dating staff, not everyone was happy. “If you talked to the women who are working on this, maybe you’d get it right,” the Democratic Women’s Caucus posted in response, accusing him of “trying to get a headline.” […]

Brian Jack wanted to snag Newt Gingrich’s old House office during the 119th Congress’ freshman room lottery. But as the 28th pick, he lost his first choice and pivoted to another historic room: President Lyndon B. Johnson’s office in Longworth, which the Democrat occupied from 1939 to 1942. A Republican from Georgia, Jack served as […]

It wasn’t Sean Astin’s first time in Washington. “As a C-SPAN junkie and a guy who loved ‘West Wing,’ I’ve always just felt a reverence for this place,” the actor says. Between roles in “The Goonies,” “Rudy” and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he managed to fit in a stint as civilian aide to […]