Newly restored to his post as chief spokesman for U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., Bridger Pierce writes in to pass along a RIDICULOUS story by Fox News’ Chad Pergram of Rehberg trying to scope out a new Congressional office, and getting caught up in the middle of a power struggle for House minority leadership. While all of this was occurring, a scare over a mysterious white powdery substance turning up in one of the offices Rehberg wanted ensued. The story is a really good glimpse of the weird college-style competition for office space in Congress juxtaposed with modern paranoia. In the end, it looks like things worked out OK for Rehberg, but he was definitely subject to a stressful few minutes. Here’s an excerpt but check out the story in its entirety:
“I then spied an agitated Rep. Rehberg and a few of his staffers. They were in the middle of the office lottery and were checking out potential workspaces for the new Congress. Two of the offices they were eligible for were down the cordoned-off hall, one of which belonged to Lungren.
“The office lottery works like the NFL draft. Once a member of Congress goes up on the board, they have 20 minutes to make their decision. Aides track which offices other lawmakers have already snapped up and maintain a running tally of the best remaining venues. It’s exactly how NFL clubs trace whether a rival team already drafted that flashy wide receiver out of Auburn and whether they only have a few minutes to decide whether to pick that big guard from Michigan or a linebacker from USC.
“So Rehberg was on the office lottery clock. Only he couldn’t get to the offices he needed to check out to make a decision. He paced the hall hoping the House Administration Committee (which controls the office lottery) would suspend the clock until police resolved the hazardous material situation.”