Date night at the Capitol: Who’s sitting with whom?
The idea has gathered steam over the past few days, and members joked about their “dates” for the evening.
{mosads}But not all of them have someone to sit with.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joked he got dumped.
“I don’t have a date [for the State of the Union]. I got dumped,” Van Hollen told The Hill on Monday. Van Hollen’s originally planned to go with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) but now Ryan is giving the Republican response to the speech.
“Looks like I’m going stag. Maybe I’ll look for another date,” Van Hollen said with smile and a good-natured laugh.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R.-Minn.) has not been asked to sit with any Democrats yet. “I am a free agent,” she said.
And Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) took to Twitter to bemoan his lack of a date.
“So I don’t have a date to SOTU. Oh, how it is to be the ugly conservative,” Chaffetz tweeted Monday.
Later he joked: “Perhaps the First Lady needs a date?”
Second-term Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), who starred in a 2009 CNN series with Chaffetz about congressional freshmen, tweeted they could sit together:
“I’ll be sitting with the R & D CO delegation, but u can join us, UT is a neighboring state!” he wrote.
As of Tuesday morning, Chaffetz hadn’t revealed his seating plans.
But several other lawmakers have. The Hill has compiled a list of who will be sitting with whom, using Twitter, news accounts and interviews.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) tweeted she will be seated with freshman Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). She even joked about the rivarly between their alma maters. “Glad that seat mate for tonight is new R Sen Jerry Moran from KS.He’s also KU grad.The D v R thing is probably easier than Tiger v Jayhawk,” the Missouri grad wrote.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will be sitting with Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) will be sitting with Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.).
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) will be sitting together.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) will be next to Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.).
Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) will be sitting with Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) & Mike Johanns (R-Neb.).
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) announced that he will be sitting with Reps. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Randy Forbes (R-Va.)
Reps. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) will be sitting together.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) is sitting with Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) as well as Del. Madeleine Bordallo of Guam.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) will be sitting with Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.).
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) will be sitting with Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.).
Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) will be sitting between Reps. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will be sitting with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) will be sitting with Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) will be sitting with Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.).
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) will be sitting with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) will be sitting with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.).
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) will be sitting with Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.).
Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will be sitting together.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will be sitting with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.).
Reps. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Steve Womack (R-Ark.) plan to sit together.
Reps. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) and Luis Guttierez (D-Ill.) will be sitting together.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) plans to sit next to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) will sit next to Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.)
Reps. Tim Holden (D-Pa.) and Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.) will be sitting together.
The following members of Colorado’s House Delegation will be sitting together: Reps. Mike Coffman (R), Diana DeGette (D), Cory Gardner (R), Doug Lamborn (R), Ed Perlmutter (D), Jared Polis (D), and Scott Tipton (R).
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) will sit with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) will sit with Reps. Steve Rothman
(D-N.J.) and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.)
Also, Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) intends to sit with Minnesota state Sen. Julie Rosen.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.) is planning to sit with Republican Reps. John Culberson (Texas) and Daniel Webster (Fla.), as well as with her congressional softball team. Those team members include: Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Shelley Moore-Capito (W.Va.), Jean Schmidt (Ohio) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.).
Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) will sit together.
Rep. John Carney (D-Del.) is seatmates with Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.).
Georgia Reps. Tom Price (R) and John Lewis (D) plan to sit together.
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) plans to sit next to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is planning to sit with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) plans to sit with Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).
Nevada Reps. Shelley Berkley (D), Joe Heck (R) and Dean Heller (R) plan to sit together.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) plans to sit with Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) plans to sit with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) plans to sit with Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.).
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) plans to sit with Rep. Renee Elmers (R-N.C.).
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is sitting next to Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) plans to sit with Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas).
Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) plans to sit with Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.).
Rep. Larry Kissell (D-N.C.) plans to sit next to Reps. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) and Howard Coble (R-N.C.). Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) plans to sit on the other side of Coble.
Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) plans to sit next to Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.).
Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) plans to sit with Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.).
Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) plans to sit with Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill.).
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), top Finance Republican, plans to sit with Finance Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) will be sitting with Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.).
Rep. Sanford Bishop’s (D-Ga.) office said he doesn’t know who he’ll sit next to, but he does support the bipartisan move.
—Michael Gleeson, Emily Goodin and Jordy Yager contributed to this article.
—This story was last updated at 6:52 p.m.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed..