Whoops! Looks Like ‘Mark Sanfrod’ Was Sworn In

Updated 3:45 p.m. | Moving in. It can be quite the adjustment. Just ask the team of newly sworn-in Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., which was greeted with a press release sent out under the auspices of the new congressman with this headline: “Representative Mark Sanfrod Sworn Into Office.”

A horrified staff saw this — as well as an HOH blog post noting the misspelling and other snafus on Sanford’s official congressional website — and explained what went down.

“Rep. Sanford’s official website was updated by the US House without the prior knowledge, or consent, of our office and they have acknowledged their error,” Sanford’s office said in a statement. Specifically, responsibility for the error lies with the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer.

Sanford, who was sworn in on Wednesday, certainly is one of the most colorful figures to return to Capitol Hill in quite some time. But the release was more than colorful:

(Screenshot)

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Don Young Thinks the Word ‘Wetbacks’ Is OK

Hey  Rep. Don Young — 1956 called and it wants its racial epithets back.

The Republican from Alaska gave a wide-ranging interview with a local radio station KRBD, which aired Thursday, when he used the term “wetbacks” to describe laborers on what apparently was an extraordinarily large ranch his family owned.

“My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes,” the 79-year-old Young said. “It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”

Don’t believe us? You can listen to the audio here:

KTUU in Alaska has since reported that Young issued a statement Thursday night saying he was simply using the vocabulary of his youth.

“During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California,” Young said in the statement, according to KTUU. “I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.”

Senate Rules Committee = Killjoys

Dear Senate staffers: The Senate Rules and Administration Committee hates festive posters and that finger-paint drawing you taped to your window so the world could see your child’s genius.

And if you don’t immediately take them down from the windows of the Hart Senate Office Building, Big Brother is going to come around the fish bowl and take them down for you. Or so implied an email sent Wednesday to all Senate offices by the committee’s Chief Clerk Lynden C. Armstrong.

Please note the caps lock for emphasis.

“I’ve gotten some complaints and have seen a number of signs, posters, photos, charts, etc. that have been placed facing outwards into the Hart Atrium. It is against the regulations governing the Senate Office Buildings to place any kind of material facing the exterior of the building and into the Hart Atrium,” the e-mail, obtained by HOH said. “Because there are a NUMBER of violations, I’m asking each of you to walk your spaces and have any items removed or turned around. It will make life simpler for me when I don’t have to start tracking down every individual item and contacting you separately.”

Armstrong then included the full memo of building rules in case staffers already had forgotten office rules “do’s and don’t’s,” which includes the anti-window display edict. The justification provided for the rules was “to assure the safety of the thousands of staff and visitors who pass through these buildings and to maintain a professional appearance in the buildings.”

HOH’s favorite rule? The one based on the assumption that staffers would somehow treat food services like room service.

“Please do not place dishes or trays in the hallways. Any property of the Senate Restaurants should be returned to them. The Superintendent’s personnel are not responsible for returning restaurant items.”

Cheer Up, Staffers! We’ve Got the Campus NCAA Channel Guide

Dear Hill creatures: Don’t feel guilty about wanting to watch March Madness on Thursday. Just be informed on how to, care of your friends at HOH.

Let’s be honest, your bosses will be watching basketball. Why should they have all the fun just because they were elected to do the people’s work and you were merely hired at a low price? Read further for the lowdown on which channels around campus you can find virtually every game. And don’t forget to fill out your Roll Call men’s and women’s NCAA brackets!

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Jon Tester, Gym Rat?

With the double-secret-probation-style mystery shrouding the Senate members-only gym, outsiders are left to imagine what happens there, like whether Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., uses the treadmill.

This is precisely what HOH asked the No. 2 Senate Democrat, Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, in a wide-ranging sit-down interview about the gym.

“You know, I’ve seen him on the StairMaster, the rowing machine. Jon really pours his heart into it. He really goes at it hard,” Durbin said.
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Master of Ceremonies Schumer Ready for His Close-Up

Schumer is relishing his final days as master of ceremonies of the biggest event of the year — the presidential inauguration. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Self-professed New York vegetable and Kelly Clarkson fan Sen. Charles E. Schumer showcased on Friday the two crystal vases to be presented to Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Relishing his final days as master of ceremonies of the biggest event of the year — the presidential inauguration — the New York Democrat was in his favorite territory, the news conference, to offer a sneak peek at the two oversized, tapering etched-glass vases designed and donated by the Lenox Corp. Or, in his words: wine glasses.

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Dispatch From the DNC’s Kickoff Parties

Charlotte, N.C. — The rain didn’t stop the music Monday, when hundreds of Democratic National Convention attendees fanned out across the city’s center to catch some of the country’s top musical acts.

John Legend headlined the Duke Energy soiree at the NASCAR Hall of Fame Museum. Full story

John Boehner’s Tears Win Over a Ron Paul Delegate

TAMPA, Fla. — Ron Paul delegates haven’t had much praise for the establishment since arriving here in Tampa, but sometimes it only takes one conversation to remember that voters are, at the core, just people who are looking to connect to the politicians elected to serve them.

One such chat occurred Tuesday in the ballroom of the airport Marriott, when HOH walked up to a table full of Missouri GOP delegates, plopped down in the middle of their breakfast and began probing them for their opinions of Speaker John Boehner (Ohio), who had just finished addressing the room and is about as establishment as any lawmaker comes.

That’s when a 48-year-old small-business man from Kansas City surprised HOH (while also getting a dig in about reporters, of course). He liked Boehner. And the thing he liked most were Boehner’s tears.

“He has emotion when he talks. I mean, he’s a real person. I know people in the media make fun of him for crying, but I love that part,” said Mark Jones. “I don’t always agree with [him on] everything, but you’re not going to find anyone that I completely agree with. … I’m a Ron Paul delegate, and so I’m not always happy with Speaker Boehner, but he is the leader and he is very diplomatic in the way he handles things. I am totally against raising the debt ceiling, 100 percent of the time, and he’s voted for that, and so obviously that’s part of my disagreement.”

Hours later Paul delegates caused a stir in the Tampa Bay Times Forum, upset that rules had been changed to minimize their influence on the convention. Some even walked out in protest. Maybe Mitt Romney could win over more fans if he just succumbed to a good, old-fashioned cry?

Game Changers

Republicans had a brilliant plan to win Thursday night’s CQ Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game: And that plan was — gasp! — more regulation.

Sure, it was a move straight from the Democratic playbook (and let’s face it, after an 18-5 drubbing, maybe the GOP should at least try to steal signals). But the party that doesn’t believe Wall Street CEOs such as Jamie Dimon should have federal regulators all up in their business wanted to impose a new rule to curb the number of innings a single hurler could pitch in the annual charity game. Full story

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Softballer Scorned …

There’s no crying in baseball, but there might be if women lawmakers don’t get their way in an internal fight pitting some of the most powerful Senate Democrats against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and others hoping to make it to tonight’s Congressional Women’s Softball game.

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Overheard on the Hill

“I don’t want to answer that question. That’s a clown question, bro.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid invoking his favorite ballplayer and Nevada homeboy, Bryce Harper, at a Tuesday news conference. Reid later sent out a release gushing that “Nevada Senator Harry Reid responded to a reporter’s question during a press conference by taking a quote from Nevada baseball star Bryce Harper. In May, Senator Reid attended a Washington Nationals game and spoke with Bryce Harper.”

Bare Essentials Backpedal

When we last left our heroes at the United States Senate Federal Credit Union, they were telling us that “more personal activities,” such as boob jobs, were on par with weddings and braces as necessities of life.

In the hours since, the USSFCU top brass has re-evaluated its “big plans” campaign, issuing another — more straightforward — mea culpa to consumers and Roll Call editors.

“It has come to our attention that the imagery and message in a recent marketing direct mail campaign has offended some of our membership. It was not the intention of this marketing campaign to insult, demean or in any way offend anyone in our field of membership,” the letter to patrons reads.
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USSFCU Fills Cups Like Double Ds

Forget AAA credit ratings, the Senate Federal Credit Union is thinking more along the lines of double-D status for its loyal customers.

In a folding mailer sent recently to its patrons, the bank — unaffiliated with the Senate but with a branch in Hart Senate Office Building — asks “Got Big Plans?” before having unsuspecting customers open a pop-up centerfold featuring a headless torso of a buxom blonde.

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Confessions of a Mustache Convert

Editor’s Note: While HOH has long regarded itself as a collective, occasionally a contributor takes his or her assignment very, very seriously. This is one of those times. HOH readers, we give you Meredith Shiner.

I’m just going to throw this out there: I am biased.

I know, I know, a reporter is never supposed to confess such a thing, but it’s true. I can’t help it. I have certain deep-seated hates in life: Washington, D.C.-area drivers, the Chicago Cubs, New Jersey and Seersucker Thursdays, to name a few. But before Sunday, I had one bias that really topped them all — dudes with facial hair. This can be a problem if you’re covering the Million Mustache March on Washington. Full story

B-Brawler

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

If there were a Congressional bracket for March Madness trash-talking, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would certainly make a great case to be the undisputed, overall No. 1 seed.

The Louisville fan extraordinaire — did he mention his tie is Cardinals red in honor of Rick Pitino’s boys? — has taken to bragging at every turn about the improbable run by his favorite cagers, and Wednesday morning on the floor proved no exception as he waxed about Saturday’s Louisville-Kentucky game. Full story