Heard on the Hill

The Democrats’ Secret Weapon

Pizza sustains lawmakers during historic sit-in

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, right, drops off pizza for House Democrats including fellow Oregonians, Reps. Earl Blumenauer, center, and Suzanne Bonamici. (Courtesy Sen. Ron Wyden/Twitter)
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, right, drops off pizza for House Democrats including fellow Oregonians, Reps. Earl Blumenauer, center, and Suzanne Bonamici. (Courtesy Sen. Ron Wyden/Twitter)
By Warren Rojas
Posted June 23, 2016 at 1:22pm

Never mind Periscope.  

Mountains of fresh, hot pizza turned out to be the Democrats’ secret weapon in the war to wait out House GOP leaders on the gun control front.  

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House Sit-In On Guns Continues As Sun Rises

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As Democratic lawmakers settled in for a long day and night (and, now another day) of pleading for congressional action on proposed curbs to the sale of firearms, supporters of the historic demonstration responded in kind by flooding the Capitol with emergency rations.  

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Sit-In Democrats Circumvent GOP-Controlled TV Cameras Using Social Media

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The most popular show of solidarity: springing for a complimentary pie from neighboring restaurant, We, The Pizza.

“We can track 211 pizzas delivered. But our manager said that there were over a hundred pick-up orders from staffers as well,” said Jordyn Lazar Albano, a spokeswoman for former Top Chef contestant and D.C. restaurateur Spike Mendelsohn’s family of eateries.  

According to Albano, orders poured in from across the country, including calls placed from Maine to Texas to Los Angeles.

But perhaps the most curious request trickled in presumably from Utah.  

“There was a large order placed by the ‘Feminist Mormon Housewives,’” Albano said of the standout benefactor.  

The response was actually overwhelming.  

“We had hundreds of calls in for orders that we couldn’t accommodate,” Albano said, noting that We, The Pizza staff must provide Capitol Police with the name of a current congressional staffer and a valid cell phone number for said contact in order to drop food off on the Hill.  

Navigating through security didn’t stop others from attempting to get in on the action.  

California Democrat Judy Chu thanked West Coast supporters for supplying an unexpected dose of Domino’s Pizza.

Even House Republicans were not immune to hunger pangs — though they seemed inclined to stick with the home team.

A congressional correspondent spotted We, The Pizza boxes being ferried into the GOP’s late-night strategy session.  

A day later, liberal activists were still looking for ways to keep Democrats’ spirits up.

And putting We, The Pizza right back to work remained high on the to-do list.

Contact Rojas at

warrenrojas@rollcall.com
and follow him on Twitter at

@WARojas.


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