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Heard on the Hill

Joe Biden steps onto the stage at the Democratic National Convention four years ago. This year will be a little different.

Joe Biden will tower over this decrepit parking lot on the closing night of the convention

By Kathryn Lyons
Posted August 20, 2020 at 6:00am
Fox Sports commentator Shannon Sharpe referenced Maine Sen. Susan Collins Wednesday when he said the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss in the NBA playoffs was, “Deeply troubling and concerning.”

In strange reversal, sports journalists are now using political metaphors

By Clyde McGrady
Posted August 19, 2020 at 5:12pm
A new documentary follows a group of high schoolers through a civics-heavy week at Texas Boys State in 2018.

Boys State churns out members of Congress. These were their teenage dreams

By Clyde McGrady
Posted August 14, 2020 at 6:00am
For Sen. Brian Schatz, seen here in 2019, the medium is not the message.

When a senator is just ‘a normal person having a normal reaction to a crazy world’

Vice President Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris participate in a mock swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol’s Old Senate Chamber on Jan. 3, 2017. Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, holds the Bible.

Sen. Kamala Harris in pictures

By Bill Clark
Posted August 11, 2020 at 5:33pm
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer conducts a news conference on coronavirus aid in the Capitol Visitor Center on Thursday, August 6, 2020. Speaker Nancy Pelosi also attended.

Sing softly and carry a big stick: Congressional Hits and Misses

By Thomas McKinless
Posted August 7, 2020 at 2:58pm
As senator and WNBA team co-owner Kelly Loeffler embraces a fight with her own league, her rhetoric invokes two things — the looming presence of Donald Trump and the long political history of her home state.

Loeffler leans in to Trump’s culture war in battle with WNBA

By Clyde McGrady
Posted August 6, 2020 at 5:30am, Updated at 1:12pm
Many female lawmakers can recall similar unwelcome run-ins with male colleagues to the one Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently had on the Capitol steps with Rep. Ted Yoho.

Demeaned, overlooked, fighting back: What it’s like to be a woman in Congress

By Kathryn Lyons
Posted August 5, 2020 at 6:00am
Plebes begin their day at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on July 28 with a morning run at sunrise.

Photos: Plebe Summer in the COVID-19 era

By Caroline Brehman
Posted August 5, 2020 at 5:30am
Officers at the port of entry between the U.S. and Mexico on Aug. 23, 2019.

‘Blood on the Wall’ walks thousands of miles in their shoes

By Jason Dick
Posted August 3, 2020 at 12:30pm
UNITED STATES - JULY 28: Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, questions Adam D. DeMarco, Major District of Columbia National Guard, during the House Natural Resources Committee hearing on “Unanswered Questions About the US Park Police's June 1 Attack on Peaceful Protesters at Lafayette Square” on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Meet Congressman COVID — Congressional Hits and Misses

By Thomas McKinless
Posted July 31, 2020 at 4:44pm
The hearse carrying the casket of the late Rep. John Lewis stops at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House on Monday during the procession to the Capitol for his memorial ceremony and lying in state.

Photos of the week ending July 31, 2020

By Bill Clark, Tom Williams and Caroline Brehman
Posted July 31, 2020 at 1:00pm
Sen. Angus King, here at a committee hearing last week, may have lost some credit cards.

Sen. Angus King is looking for his money clip

By Katherine Tully-McManus
Posted July 30, 2020 at 12:52pm
Charles Houy, who worked for the Senate Appropriations Committee for 30 years, has completed his third Capitol Hill-based novel.

The appropriations process can be a real thriller

By Paul M. Krawzak
Posted July 30, 2020 at 6:00am
Mattel introduced a new set of dolls this week, and people had opinions.

If campaign Barbie wants to win, she needs a bigger staff

By Kathryn Lyons
Posted July 30, 2020 at 6:00am
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and former Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, center, participate in a maile lei untying (similar to a ribbon cutting) at an event in Honolulu in 2016. Akaka died in 2018.

‘My boss had a front-row seat’: Tulsi Gabbard on serving in the National Guard

By Eleanor Van Buren
Posted July 30, 2020 at 5:30am
Earlier this year, the Capitol Reflecting Pool welcomed ducklings, like it does every spring. How is it doing right about now?

There’s algae in the Capitol Reflecting Pool (but things could be worse)

By Kathryn Lyons
Posted July 29, 2020 at 6:30am
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee pays her respects as Rep. John Lewis lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

Democrats honor John Lewis with ‘Good Trouble’ masks, inspiring copycats

By Kathryn Lyons
Posted July 28, 2020 at 7:07pm
When Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans unveiled the so-called HEALS Act this week, it wasn’t the first backronym to pass through Washington — and it certainly won’t be the last.

The art of the ‘backronym’

By Clyde McGrady
Posted July 28, 2020 at 4:38pm
“The Swamp,” which follows Matt Gaetz and other members of Congress through a year of deriding politics as usual, debuts on HBO Aug. 4. (“The Swamp”/HBO)

Matt Gaetz puts on his own makeup, and other lessons from ‘The Swamp’

By Clyde McGrady
Posted July 28, 2020 at 7:00am
UNITED STATES - JULY 23: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., throw their fists in the air in response to a reporter bringing up MLB opening day during a news conference in the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, July 23, 2020. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)

Nonapologies, the ghost of Schumer, and Fauci’s first pitch: Congressional Hits and Misses

By Thomas McKinless
Posted July 24, 2020 at 1:21pm