Apparently the Senate administrative director’s Listserv got a little sassy Thursday morning, with Sen. Susan Collins’ administrative director telling Sen. David Vitter’s administrative director that her office’s priority should be to avoid a government shutdown, not determine who is nonessential staff.

Multiple sources of both parties (laughs are bipartisan!) sent this exchange HOH’s way, and it is awesome. If we can’t laugh at the upcoming tedium of being at the Capitol at all hours for days on end as a government shutdown looms, what can we laugh at?

From: Dyer, Julie (Vitter)
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 9:31 AM
To: ADMGR@LISTSERV.SENATE.GOV
Reply To: Dyer, Julie (Vitter)

Subject: Gov. shutdown

Would anyone mind sharing which staff they’ve designated as “essential” in past years of potential government shutdown? Any other advance preparations your office has made? Thanks!

From: Burita, Jen (Collins) [mailto:Jen_Burita@COLLINS.SENATE.GOV]
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 11:59 AM
To: ADMGR@LISTSERV.SENATE.GOV
Subject: Re: Gov. shutdown

We prefer to avoid a government shut down and hope we can all work together on that end.

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