Skip to content
RollCall logo

Heard on the Hill

Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton testifies Thursday during a hearing of the House Administration Committee. Lawmakers were quick to address the “elephant in the room.”

Blanton in the hot seat: Architect of the Capitol testifies for first time since bombshell report

By Justin Papp
Posted February 9, 2023 at 2:03pm
Last year, the Congressional Workers Union made inroads in the House. Now they’re eyeing the Senate. Above, CWU President Philip Bennett speaks at a press conference in July.

Unionize the Senate, staffers urge

By Jim Saksa
Posted February 9, 2023 at 9:00am
Rep. Mike Lawler was a vendor at Yankee Stadium when he was in college. “It certainly puts your salesmanship skills to the test,” he says.

Don’t sleep on Rep. Mike Lawler

By Justin Papp
Posted February 9, 2023 at 6:15am
Cheri Bustos collides with Debbie Wasserman Schultz during the Congressional Women's Softball Game in 2021. Bustos will return to the game this year as an announcer.

Key players return to Congressional Softball Game, this time at the microphone

Capitol Lens | Kiss me, Jill

By Tom Williams
Posted February 8, 2023 at 3:12pm

Capitol Lens | Room with a viewpoint

By Bill Clark
Posted February 6, 2023 at 2:40pm
Members of the House Ways and Means Committee take their seats for the committee’s organizational meeting in the Longworth House Office Building on Tuesday.

Photos of the week ending February 3, 2023

By Bill Clark and Tom Williams
Posted February 3, 2023 at 1:06pm
“I might wear this forever,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., says of his home-built debt clock.

Thomas Massie will wear his ticking debt clock to the State of the Union

By Justin Papp
Posted February 3, 2023 at 12:11pm

Capitol Lens | Prayer apparent

By Tom Williams
Posted February 2, 2023 at 5:53pm
“That year was intense,” says Aubrey Stuber of her time in Officer Candidate School. An aide to Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, Stuber is the rare Hill staffer who also serves in the National Guard.

This Hill staffer also serves in the National Guard

By Jim Saksa
Posted February 2, 2023 at 6:15am

Capitol Lens | The Dem-ityville Horror

By Tom Williams
Posted February 1, 2023 at 3:47pm
“What are the institutions in our country that are consistently blocking the will of the majority of the American people?” asks Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill. “The Senate, the Electoral College and the Supreme Court.”

Majority rules? This Democrat wants to talk about anti-majoritarian bias

By Jim Saksa
Posted January 31, 2023 at 9:00am
A photo posted Monday is part of a new Instagram series, “Humans on the Hill.”

They work for Congress. They also have second jobs

By Jim Saksa
Posted January 30, 2023 at 10:15am
Rep. Ted Lieu used the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT to write a resolution that calls for Congress to focus on AI.

Lieu, Auchincloss boldly go where AI so far has not: the House

By Sean Michael Newhouse
Posted January 27, 2023 at 3:00pm
San Francisco 49ers fan Rep. Eric Swalwell, left, and Philadelphia Eagles fan Rep. Brendan Boyle do some trash-talking while filming a video outside the Capitol on Friday before this weekend’s NFC Championship Game.

Photos of the week ending January 27, 2023

By Bill Clark and Tom Williams
Posted January 27, 2023 at 1:17pm
David Carle saw media change dramatically over his decades on the Hill. “There was a lot of manual labor involved with being a press secretary back then,” he says.

After 45 years on the Hill, David Carle has seen it all

By Jim Saksa
Posted January 26, 2023 at 6:30am
Freshman Rep. Gabe Vasquez once worked as a field rep for Sen. Martin Heinrich.

What ‘conservation’ means to Rep. Gabe Vasquez

By Jackie Wang
Posted January 26, 2023 at 6:15am
While Congress has made “great strides” in hiring racially diverse staff, there is still more work to do, says Maureen “Mo” Elinzano, co-president of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association.

In most diverse Congress in history, staff representation lags 

By Justin Papp
Posted January 26, 2023 at 5:45am
Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton allegedly misused a government-issued car and misrepresented himself as a law enforcement officer, according to an October inspector general report.

Months after explosive report, lawmakers still unsure how to handle Capitol architect

By Justin Papp
Posted January 26, 2023 at 5:30am
Rep. Debbie Dingell, seen here in 2019, launched a new caucus on Wednesday to call attention to a region “too often overlooked.”

‘Not fly-over country’: Dingell and other Midwestern Democrats start Heartland Caucus

By Justin Papp
Posted January 25, 2023 at 2:34pm
American flags stand in the Capitol Rotunda in December ahead of a ceremony to recognize police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

They sew 5 million American flags a year. Then politics happens

By Jason Dick
Posted January 24, 2023 at 6:15am