Real Housewives: Stacie coming to Capitol, Michaele to ‘Today’

The cast of the “Real Housewives of D.C.” is expanding its influence. 

On Thursday, cast member Stacie Turner will join a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers on Capitol Hill to release new data and call for action on issues that affect foster children. Turner is a former foster child, and her search for her birth father has been an ongoing subplot of the first season of “Real Housewives.” 

{mosads}Present at the noon press conference will be Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the co-chairmen of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth. The pair recently filmed an appearance on “Dr. Phil” to talk about foster children, timed to correspond with the start of the school year. From the House side, Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a mom to five biological children and 23 foster kids, will join the senators and the actress, as will Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), sponsor of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act.

Another “Real Housewives of D.C.” cast member is making an appearance of a different kind: Michaele Salahi announced Wednesday that she will appear as a guest host on the last hour of NBC’s “Today” show on Friday morning, alongside Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.