Office Nameplates Go Up, Incoming Lawmakers Get Giddy
Noobs won’t have access until January
Lawmakers admired their new digs coming together this week as Hill workers posted nameplates outside offices.
Newcomers picked their offices back during orientation and got to tour them, but they still had someone else’s name out front. This week the traditional plaques with new member’s names and districts are being installed outside their offices. And the freshman class of the 116th Congress is psyched.
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” tweeted Joe Cunningham, citing a famous Walt Disney quote along with a photo of his new office nameplate.
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” – Walt Disney pic.twitter.com/VLre9Nku1i
— Joe Cunningham (@JoeCunninghamSC) December 27, 2018
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez gave a shoutout to another woman from the Bronx who rose to stardom in her field, Jennifer Lopez. Ocasio Cortez tweeted out some personalized lyrics to the JLo classic “Jenny from the Block.”
“Don’t be fooled by the plaques that we got, I’m still / I’m still Alex from the Bronx,” she posted along with a photo of her office plaque.
🎶 Don’t be fooled by the plaques that we got, I’m still / I’m still Alex from the Bronx 🎶 pic.twitter.com/eO68AGxn2z
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 27, 2018
The next line of the JLo hit is “Used to have a little, now I have a lot /No matter where I go, I know where I came from.” She also posted a photo of an Architect of the Capitol employee hanging the plaque on her Instagram.
Parts of the federal government are shut down, but because the funding for the Legislative Branch was already signed into law, agencies like the Architect of the Capitol, Capitol Police and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House are still hard at work getting Capitol Hill ready for the new Congress.
Incoming Mainer Jared Golden retweeted Maine statehouse reporter Steve Collins, who posted photos of Golden’s nameplate along with the interior of the suite and the future view from Golden’s office window.
This is where some of @golden4congress‘ staff will sit, a pretty typical Capitol Hill arrangement. Thanks for the shot, Mark Hancock! pic.twitter.com/tp9f2Tpxip
— Steve Collins (@SteveCollinsSJ) December 26, 2018
Most members-elect aren’t in town yet, but they got creative in how they showed off their new offices. Jason Newton, incoming communications director for Connecticut’s Jahana Hayes, took a selfie with the new signage that Hayes shared.
When you call your staff because you heard that DC signs were up and your Comms Director @JNewt1 jogs over to take a pic. Best DC staff ever!!! pic.twitter.com/EcQp5XefMV
— Jahana Hayes for Congress (@JahanaHayesCT) December 27, 2018
Lawmaker’s won’t get access to their offices until the new year, but that hasn’t tamped down the excitement.
Earlier this month California’s Katie Hill offered to swap offices with Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts to bring true Pressley’s dream of working in an office once occupied by the first black woman elected to Congress, Shirley Chisholm.
Wow! TY Mommy for the extra bday luck! We just learned my Congressional Office designation will be #ShirleyChisholm ‘s former office. How’s that for divine intervention, AND the selflessness of my colleague @KatieHill4CA who drew a better lottery# but still wanted me to have it.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) December 17, 2018