Heard on the Hill: Overheard on the Hill

By Elizabeth Brotherton and Alison McSherry

Posted February 7, 2011 at 6:35pm

“Going to my mother in law’s 99th birthday tonight. I hope I am as active and fabulous as she is at that age. I hope I make it to her age!”

— Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), in a Monday tweet. The Senator’s mother, Roberta, frequently campaigned for her son during the 2008 presidential election, earning praise from many political pundits for her feisty nature.

Recent Stories

Indiana GOP Rep. Erin Houchin arrives at a House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol on July 21, 2026.

Houchin looks to push kids social media ban in lame duck

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford speaks with family members who lost loved ones on flight 5342 before a related hearing on Capitol Hill on May 19, 2026.

Army findings inject urgency into air safety bill talks

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on May 12. Hegseth announced plans to livestream the execution of the man convicted of carrying out the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood.

Plan for public military execution sparks bipartisan backlash

Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., left, and ranking member Gary Peters, D-Mich., conduct a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee business meeting on Aug. 6.

Cyber information-sharing law stuck in Senate stalemate

Workers in protective suits regroup after sweeping buildings on the House side of the Capitol complex for anthrax on Oct. 23, 2001. Staffers and lawmakers from that time remember widespread uncertainty and fear more attacks were coming.

The anthrax attacks, 25 years later

Samuel A. Alito Jr., seen here at left alongside other Supreme Court justices at Trump’s inauguration ceremonies in 2025, has said he’s weighing retirement but sticking around for the current term.