Burris gets brush-off from Rep. Rush

Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) was spotted on the House floor Tuesday night shaking hands with various members. One lawmaker who didn’t offer his hand as the senator walked by, however, was Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), who otherwise wasn’t stingy with his handshakes.

Rush, who initially was one of Burris’s biggest supporters, has become noticeably silent as the appointed senator’s problems surrounding ties to impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) have intensified.

A source close to the Congressional Black Caucus remarked that Rush’s silence is telling, but it’s not just Rush. “His political base of support has collapsed within the black community,” the source said of Burris. “You haven’t seen jack. You haven’t even seen a prayer circle.”

Rush’s office did not comment by press time on whether the congressman would shake Burris’s hand if the senator extended it to him.

Sighting: Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Collins dine at Central

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel joined centrist Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) Monday night for dinner at the upscale Central on Pennsylvania Avenue. A black SUV, presumably waiting for Emanuel, was parked in front of the restaurant.

The dinner is sure to raise some eyebrows. Democrats fall just short of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and the Obama administration is likely to look for Collins’s vote on a host of issues.

The pair was spotted at a table in the back of Central. Collins, one of only three GOP senators who supported President Obama’s stimulus package, was already there with an unidentified male when Emanuel arrived. He asked, “Are you guys kissing back here?”

Freshman Rep. Grayson reveals a wild side

Actor and comedian Steve Martin may have been the original wild and crazy guy. But Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) came in a close second Tuesday night as he showed up to Statuary Hall in a neon turquoise tie.

“I feel like we’re getting things done,” he said of the Democratic Party and the Obama administration. “It’s very exciting.”

Grayson’s words were no match for his tie, a screaming, bright beacon of fashion in a sea of ordinary dark suits and red ties.

Grayson was unashamed. He told ITK he wore the tie so that his wife and five children could spot him easily on TV. “My wife told me she’d be watching and I want to make sure she [and my five young children] could recognize me.”

He further confided that he often purchases his ties on Wildties.com. He wasn’t sure, however, if this number was bought there. Pulling back the blinding tie revealed a most ironic label: Puritan.

Senate corridor fills up with smoke

The broken fireplace in Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl’s (Ariz.) Capitol office was the reason plumes of smoke billowed into the Senate hallway Tuesday afternoon. The entire Ohio Clock corridor was filled with smoke.

“I smell like a campfire,” said Todd Zwillich, a radio reporter with Capitol News Connection who airs the “Power Breakfast” segment on WAMU/NPR each morning.

Sure enough, even though hours had passed, his dark, pin-checked suit still had a smoky barbecue smell.
Kyl came into the office mid-smoke, but left approximately two minutes later.

One observer noted, “The poor hot receptionists had to sit there in the smoke.”

Former Rep. Scarborough takes advantage of House floor perk

It’s a journalist’s dream to be able to go onto the floor of the House of Representatives on the night of a big presidential speech with both houses of Congress and the administration convening. What more could a congressman-turned-journalist ask for?

Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” took advantage of the lifetime access to the House floor that former members enjoy. It’s a perk ex-lawmakers love, but raises ethical questions about lobbying and influence.

On his show Wednesday morning, the host wasn’t shy about broadcasting the fact that he had been in the House chamber the night before. He has also been on the floor for past addresses.

“Hey look, there you are on the floor last night!” cooed his co-host Mika Brzezinski as a photograph of Scarborough with lawmakers flashed on the screen.

A running joke on the show is Scarborough’s longstanding crush on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. “Hillary Clinton — she was absolutely ravishing last night,” he said.

When asked to comment on the ethics of the matter, MSNBC spokeswoman Lauren Skowronski replied by e-mail: “As a former member of Congress, Joe is granted privilege to the floor.”

Scarborough, a well-known Republican, tried to play it bipartisan. During his show he remarked that he sat on the Democrat side for part of the speech and then switched over to the Republican side.

Watson blows out a knee but still makes Obama speech

Not even knee surgery could keep Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) from attending President Obama’s speech Tuesday night. The congresswoman was zipping around the Capitol on a Jazzy-like scooter before the event, just one day after going under the knife to repair a torn meniscus.

Watson’s spirit was high, even as she described the injury.

“I just got out of the hospital yesterday, and I had to be here,” she said as an aide helped her get comfortable in the scooter seat.

How’d she hurt her knee? By being a lawmaker, she said.

An injury like hers “tends to happen when you’ve been on these marble floors as long as I have,” said the 75-year-old lawmaker, who pointed at the floor.

As she rolled through Statuary Hall toward the House floor, Watson received wishes for a quick recovery from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

“Just no dancing tonight,” he advised.

Proving she’s an optimist, Watson looked at the bright side of her otherwise difficult situation. “Now I have this little machine to play with,” she told ITK, admiring the scooter.

Jackson Lee goes mum about seat-seeking ways

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) maneuvered her way through an obstacle course of TV crews in Statuary Hall on Tuesday night before the speech, but was happy and smiling when ITK caught up with her.

Did she land a good seat for President Obama’s speech?

“I’m not saying anything more about the seat,” she said, a half-smile still on her face. “I think all of us are showing great respect for a great man.”

Sure enough, Jackson Lee, all decked out in a sparkling red-checked skirt-suit, matching red lipstick and large, chunky pearl earrings, did what she has often done for these addresses: She landed a primo spot right on the aisle. As Obama made his way down it, Jackson Lee could be seen on TV, smiling and clapping all the while.