Skip to content
RollCall logo

Ask Roll Call: Twitter Q&A Transcript

By Christina Bellantoni
Posted April 28, 2011 at 4:52pm

Roll Call is continuing Twitter Q-and-A sessions. In this edition, we talked with features writer Emily Heil.

She’s a star in the newsroom and brings her vibrant voice to stories such as exploring the Congressional Black Caucus at 40 and detailing Robert and Erma Byrd’s loving marriage. (And because this is a Twitter Q-and-A, after all, we must mention her recent piece on the tweeting food trucks.)

She’s been with the paper for several years, including a nearly four-year stint as the Heard on the Hill columnist.

Follow her: @emilyaheil

Since it was on Twitter, of course, her answers were kept to under 140 characters. A transcript follows.

Roll Call


 


 

Roll Call’s @ prepares to take your questions in 3, 2, 1 …



Roll Call

 

Welcome to Roll Call’s 13th Twitter Q&A w/ features writer @ — has been here 4+ yrs, her pick for best Hill latte: Cups&Co/Russell



Roll Call

 

Q1! From inside the newsroom: Are there any Members of Congress attending the royal wedding?



Roll Call

 

A: None that I’m aware of. I’d nominate Frederica Wilson (D-FL) because she wears the best hats. Love to see her rock a Stetson ^@



Roll Call

 

Q2! MT @: Has the WHCD gone TOO Hollywood? Is it even nerd prom anymore?



Roll Call

 

.@ Depends on how you define nerd. Anyone who wants to hang out at the Hilton on a Saturday night = nerd (me included) ^@



Roll Call

 

Q3! RT @: @ @ Which member of Congress, either House, gives the most open, no spin interviews? @



Roll Call

 

.@ Depends on the subject. Debbie Wasserman Schultz always v. relaxed. As for off the record, I’m not telling! ^@



Roll Call

 

MT @: @ -? for Emily Heil: who are the biggest celebs expected at ?



Roll Call

 

.@ Seth Meyers is the MC. “Biggest” depends on demographic. Me? I’ll be stalking/er…/trying to interview Paul Rudd ^@



Roll Call

 

Q6! Emily, can you tell us about the novel you are working on?



Roll Call

 

A: It’s a Washington-set thriller about a young gossip columnist. Turning in revisions to agents now. Stay tuned. ^@



Roll Call

 

Okay one last question for @ RT @: Okay, who is the most fashionable Member? Least?



Roll Call

 

.@ Boehner is natty. Then there’s Grassley’s sweater vests (@). Least? We only have 140 characters! ^@



Roll Call

 

Thanks so much to @ for our Q&A during recess. Make sure to her for updates & great stories.

Read our previous Twitter Q&A transcripts with Steven T. Dennis here, Jennifer Bendery here, Steve Peoples here, John Stanton here, Stu Rothenberg here, Paul Singer here, the talented photo department (Tom Williams, Bill Clark, Doug Graham and Andrew Satter) here, Ambreen Ali here, Kate Ackley here, Lauren Whittington here, Daniel Newhauser here and Kyle Trygstad here.

Recent Stories

Heavy traffic on the 580 Freeway in Dublin, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area, Aug. 3, 2024. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Justices agree to hear dispute over California emissions rules

This week saw many departing lawmakers giving their final thoughts before heading for the exits.

Farewell tours — Congressional Hits and Misses

President-elect Donald Trump speaks Thursday at a reception at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City after being named Time magazine's "Person of the Year."

Trump signals foreign policy will run through him despite nominee noise

Former Democratic Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey takes in John Trumbull’s “Declaration of Independence” painting in the Capitol Rotunda before his swearing-in to the Senate on Monday.

Photos of the week ending December 13, 2024

Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg, here on Capitol Hill in September, won the nod to chair the House Education and the Workforce Committee in the 119th Congress. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Walberg gets Republican panel nod for House Education chair

Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., speaks during a news conference in the Capitol on March 22, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Trump risks legal clashes in plans to not spend appropriations