Mitt Romney introduces Pippin, who was dressed as a panda. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
Congress didn’t do much legislating during the 21 days the House lacked a Speaker. The House was too paralyzed to take up new business; the Senate couldn’t take up major bills without the other chamber’s leadership restored.
But the Senate did manage to approve one item during that fallow period: “A resolution authorizing the use of the atrium in the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building for the “Bipawtisan Howl-o-ween Dog Pawrade,” which was held on Halloween afternoon.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has hosted the annual event since 2019, save for a pause (paws?) in 2020 because of the pandemic. Tillis had contracted COVID-19 and was unable to fulfill his emcee duties (although his staffers still were tasked with directing owners and dogs along the makeshift parade route from a bank of elevators into the building’s soaring atrium).
A Pomeranian dressed as Wonder Woman at the Senate’s “Bipawtisan Howl-o-ween Dog Pawrade” on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
Despite his previous dog debacle, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) emceed the Halloween event. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) stepped in for Tillis, his past dog faux pas (faux paws?) apparently behind him. He stood at the center of the atrium with a megaphone, doing his best to identify costumes, missing more often than hitting. “What kind of beautiful beast is this?” Romney asked as a princess trotted down the aisle. His color commentary came with a hint of cringe. “We have a threesome going on here!” the senator howled as two dogs dressed as Uncle Sam tried to skirmish with a Minnie Mouse.
There were dogs dressed to symbolize their lawmakers’ states; one of them was a squat little pooch belonging to a staffer for Sen. Angus King (I) that was dressed as a lobster to represent Maine. Some dogs wore politically themed costumes: Consider the pooch of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer who dressed his goldendoodle as the Chinese spy balloon. There were dogs in unintentionally political costumes: Elizabeth Dent, a staffer for Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee, has dressed her fluffy white dog, Pippin, as a panda for several years — but this year it was particularly timely, in light of the impending transfer of the National Zoo’s three beloved pandas to China.
“We did not want to make a political statement,” Dent said. “Pippin’s just trying to be fluffy and cute.”
A golden retriever belonging to a lobbyist from the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America was dressed as a medieval princess. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
A Samoyed named Georgia, who belongs to a staffer for Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), was dressed as cowgirl Barbie. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
For the most part, there were just dogs everywhere, most of them belonging to staffers of the House and Senate, dressed up as all kinds of traditional Halloween characters: cowboys, dragons, Harry Potter wizards, unicorns, firefighters. A French bulldog wore a beret and a Breton striped shirt. A Cavalier King Charles spaniel wore a crown and red cape, just like King Charles III. Two cardboard graham crackers and cotton marshmallows transformed a chocolate lab named Bennie into a s’more. A Samoyed was dolled up as cowgirl Barbie, and a golden retriever was dressed as Ken.
And there were tons of humans, too, jammed into the atrium and lining all seven floors of the building, looking down onto the spooky spectacle. “This is the best one yet. It’s the most dogs and the most people,” said Adam Webb, Tillis’s communications director. Romney admonished the staffers who had emerged from their offices to watch. “You guys up there? You’ve got no dogs. Go back to work!” he shouted through his megaphone.
This was a space, as the title suggested, free of pawtisanship and the usual business of the legislative branch. Some enterprising lobbyist dogs nevertheless tried their hand: A golden retriever dressed as a medieval princess, belonging to a lobbyist for the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers, got a good sniff of Goldie, Romney’s office dog dressed as a hot dog. (Lobbyists’ and senators’ dogs, they’re just like their owners!) She eventually rendezvoused with the dog belonging to an Aflac lobbyist dressed, of course, as the Aflac duck.
A Cavalier King Charles spaniel gets his claws out. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
Two Frenchies go incognito as a pig and a frog. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
The lawmakers were full of enthusiasm. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) stood near the front of the parade, snapping photos with a joyful smile. “It’s her favorite day,” a Hassan staffer said. (Hassan didn’t have a dog in the parade, but the staffer had brought hers dressed as a mermaid.)
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) dressed their goldendoodles as the couple of the moment: Gillibrand’s Maple as Taylor Swift and Fischer’s Fred as Travis Kelce. Gillibrand confirmed that Maple, in a silvery mirrored dress, is a Swiftie, although she hesitated to name the dog’s favorite song; a staffer suggested “Shake It Off,” since Maple had spent much of the day trying to shake off her costume.
Shane O’Neill contributed to this report.
A dog in a shark costume takes a break from the pomp and circumstance. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), left, and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) show off their respective goldendoodles as the nation’s hit couple of the moment: Fred kitted out as tight end Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs; and Maple glittering as the pop music megastar Taylor Swift. (Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post)
