Some Congressional interns just don’t seem to understand that children are to be seen, not heard — especially if they are moles planted by the opposite party.

During House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s dugout with reporters last week, a young would-be journalist asked the California Democrat a leading question about energy policy.

Pelosi didn’t recognize the person and quickly had her suspicions. She asked the young man where he worked and he said, straight-faced without missing a beat, “I work for Mr. Cantor.”

That would be Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Ballsy kid!

“This is like ‘Forrest Gump,’” one GOP aide said.

[IMGCAP(1)]Pelosi’s office, however, was not amused, and words were exchanged with Cantor’s office. Rob Collins, Cantor’s communications director, said he had a “very pleasant conversation” with Brendan Daly, Pelosi’s communication director, and explained that “it was youthful exuberance, and not something we condone.”

“The intern was unaware that he shouldn’t do that,” Collins said, adding jokingly, “The kid thought it was an episode of ‘When Interns Attack!’”

Woof, Woof! If you can’t feel the dog days of summer, you’ll certainly be able to smell ‘em today.

A bevy of dogs — yes, a parade of real canines — is going before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee on consumer affairs, product safety and insurance this morning. Their message: Give us more biscuits, right now. OK, not really. The dogs’ owners are testifying about the dangers of antifreeze, which tastes yummy to pooch-pups, but is deadly.

Subcommittee Chairman George Allen (R-Va.) is the author of a bill that would require manufacturers to add a bittering agent to engine coolant and antifreeze to make it unpalatable.

To give the bill some momentum, he’s decided to drag about a dozen dogs before his committee — though for what line of questioning precisely, we’re not certain. However, we do know that Allen, a dogless dog lover, wants to prevent more dogs from dying from lapping up toxic antifreeze. And, apparently, he knows how to speak the animals’ language.

“Anyone who has seen Sen. Allen on horseback knows that he has a special way of talking to his four-legged friends,” the Senator’s press secretary, David Snepp, told HOH.

Bully Pulpit. What is it with Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) constantly telling his colleagues to sit down and put a lid on it?

During last Wednesday’s GOP Conference meeting, House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) was anxious to talk about new projections for the federal budget deficit. He promised rank-and-rile Republicans that the numbers would look much better — so much so that they would surely want to “forget about your space shuttle launch press release and do one on the budget deficit” instead.

Some in the room excitedly (if skeptically) asked Nussle what the numbers were going to be, but the Budget chairman refused to divulge. However, his big surprise and moment in the limelight was suddenly dashed when the bossy Ways and Means chairman sharply interjected, “I already had a press conference on it!”

Like the bullied kid at school, Nussle — who’s running for governor of the Hawkeye State — sighed and sat down. As for everybody else in the room, they laughed with the bully.

Roll Call’s Newest Addition. The managing editor of Roll Call, David Meyers, has gone ga-ga over a girl named Sam. And the girl is doing some drooling herself!

Sam — officially Samantha Lee Meyers — was born late Wednesday afternoon in Fairfax, Va., to David and Jennifer Meyers, tipping the scales at 8 lbs., 5 oz. The proud papa has already spotted his own features in his newborn daughter. “She’s got my chin,” he declared to HOH. (That would be the famous Meyers cleft chin.)

Perhaps there’s something to that Meyers chin. Baby Sam, just like her dad, was a late arrival. In fact, when the doctors went in to get her, she burrowed back inside her mother! The doctor declared, “This is going in the record books.”

Congratulations to Dave and Jen on their first-born — and to Sam on making history!