Sanchez, her walking buddies

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) donned casual clothes and tennis shoes yesterday to lead a walk around the National Mall with Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) to begin National Walk at Lunch Day, sponsored by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

{mosads}Sanchez walks for 40 minutes a day, five days a week for exercise, often starting before 6 a.m. She is often joined by Reps. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Vic Snyder (D-Ark.). (She’s not often joined by her nemesis, Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif.)

“We have nicknames for each other. Sam Farr gets so bundled up in the winter we call him Tube Sock Man,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez believes that “consistency is key” and jokingly added that walking around the National Mall has more benefits than just keeping her healthy, such as seeing “Marines run in their short shorts.”

Sizzling Washington couples 

The Washington Monthly’s latest cover story adds another level of scrutiny to D.C. power couples. Though most people are aware of certain big-name pairs in the nation’s capital, “Washington’s 60 Sizzlingest Power Couples” details the overlapping professional lives of lawmakers, aides and lobbyists.

Included in the piece are Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Major League Baseball lobbyist Lucy Calautti, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and insurance lobbyist Kimberly Dorgan, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and General Motors official Debbie Dingell, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Philip Morris lobbyist Abigail Perlman Blunt, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Congressional Human Rights Caucus Director Annette Lantos, top Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) aide Eileen McMenamin and L.A. Times political columnist Ron Brownstein, first lady Chief of Staff Anita McBride and Freddie Mac lobbyist Timothy McBride, and senior aide to Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Randy Devalk and his wife, Cybele Bjorklund, staff director of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee.

Tulip delivery 

Congressional aides are sometimes asked to go beyond their normal duties — and that’s exactly what staffers for Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) will be doing today.

The congressman’s aides will be helping the Royal Netherlands Embassy deliver tulips to congressional offices in celebration of the 225th anniversary of Dutch-American Heritage Day. Offices in each of the House buildings and the Capitol will get one bunch of cut flowers. The embassy will be picking up the hefty price tag, estimated to cost between $5 and $6 per flower bunch.

Hoekstra’s parents emigrated to the United States from the Netherlands when he was 3.

Asked why the congressman himself was not pitching in as a tulip deliveryman, spokesman Dave Yonkman said in an e-mail that for now, it’s just staff, but added that this could change.

This is where political pressure comes into play. Under the Dome implores all flower recipients today to inquire about whether the congressman is being a tulip team player. After all, Hoekstra is in the minority now, so he’s got more time on his hands.

Bush and Condi, taking a roadtrip 

President Bush yesterday went out of his way to thank members of his administration for accompanying him to a speech remembering the Holocaust. “I am traveling with some members of my administration, starting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Thank you for being here,” he said.

The travel time wasn’t that long, however, being that the event was held at the Holocaust Memorial here in D.C. According to Mapquest.com, the road trip from the White House extends 0.66 miles and should take two minutes (faster if you’re POTUS, of course).

We’re not sure if Bush and Rice carpooled, but if she went solo from the State Department, her trek was twice as long as the president’s — 1.19 miles, or about four minutes.

Byrd’s rant against business as usual 

Politicians, especially those on the campaign trail, often talk about wanting to change Washington and how things are done here. The latest addition to this club is Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the longest-serving senator in history.

“We are ending ‘business as usual’ in Washington, D.C.,” Byrd, who has served in the Senate since 1959, announced Tuesday when unveiling Appropriations Committee earmark reforms. That would be the same Tuesday that was Byrd’s 17,637th day in Congress.

Also vowing to end “business as usual in Washington, D.C.,” the Supreme Court announced that justices would shed their robes in favor of khaki shorts and Hawaiian shirts next term (OK, we made that up).

 NPR moving — somewhere

National Public Radio, which relies on fees from member stations, foundation support, government funding and contributions from listeners, may not have to work so hard to pay its bills in the future.

Its headquarters has been a fixture at 635 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. for the past 15 years, but it is preparing to sell the site that it bought for $12.8 million in 1992 and move to a new, larger facility in the D.C. metropolitan area.

According to the Washington Business Journal, the property at the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, K Street N.W. and Sixth Street N.W., near the Washington Convention Center, could fetch between $90 million and $115 million.

“We’re working with a consultant to either build or take over an existing building with more than 210,000 square feet,” Emily Lenzner, an NPR spokeswoman, told The Hill. She added that the present facility has only 160,000 square feet, which won’t be enough for NPR’s future needs, including proposed digital-media programs.

Lenzner said NPR is looking at possible sites throughout greater Washington, both inside and outside the Beltway. NPR hopes to complete its move in 2011.