Staffers to sleep in Rayburn

Staffers turned the Rayburn House Office Building into the “Rayburn Hotel” on Monday night, with many sleeping in their offices to avoid the chaotic traffic expected for President-elect Obama’s Inauguration.

“We’ve got about 10 or 11 people sleeping in the office tonight,” said Austin Durrer, press secretary for Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.). He coined the term “Rayburn Hotel” and said staffers were bringing in air mattresses as bedding.

{mosads}Moran’s office is not alone. Many staffers have been asked to work on Tuesday to help out the thousands of constituents from around the country who may need help with directions on Inauguration Day. Others will be doling out food and water to visitors.

With transportation into the city a question, many staffers plan to spend the night rather than risk arriving late for their duties.

“A lot of us are coming in [on Tuesday], so some are spending the night if we can,” said Kim Fuller, senior legislative assistant for Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), whose office is also in Rayburn.

“We’re doing air mattresses and there are showers downstairs, so we’re going to do that.”

What’s in store for staffers was evident Monday in the long lines of people waiting to get their Inauguration tickets. Hundreds of thousands more without tickets are also expected to journey to the event, to be on the fringes, if nothing else.

Those visitors are coming from every one of the 50 states, and their House districts are, in many cases, the point of contact.

Judith Kargbo, press secretary for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), said House offices have turned into information hubs for the Inauguration, and all hands are on call.

“Over the weekend and on Monday we have shifts. But everything’s focused on Inauguration Day, so even if you’re the legislative director, the staff assistant or the legislative coordinator, right now everyone’s title is ‘Inauguration Coordinator,’ period,” Kargbo said.

Jackson Lee’s press secretary is one of the brave souls hoping to make their way through gridlock and closed streets, highways and bridges on Tuesday morning.

“We’re going to be trying to ‘guerrilla-style’ it back to the office, maybe even coming in at the wee hours of the morning,” Kargbo said.

The office of the House sergeant at arms does not usually allow members or staff to spend nights in their offices. It was not encouraging staff to create a Hotel Rayburn on Monday night either, although it also did not put its foot down.

“We’re aware that people are going to spend the night,” said Kerri Hanley, spokeswoman for the House sergeant at arms. “We do not condone it, but we know it’s going to happen.”

Staffers expect the sergeant at arms to look the other way for a night.

“I’ve heard that [the sergeant at arms is] making some accommodations, like they’re not going to bother you if you are sleeping here,” said Ray Zaccaro, a spokesman for Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.).

Kargbo said she thinks the sergeant at arms is seeing the larger picture — that if staffers were not able to come in on Tuesday, things could get chaotic.

“I think they understand the whole craziness of the staffers and what we actually really do and how we almost have to be here and how if we’re not, some of our members might be a little lost — just a little,” she said.