As we all know, Tuesday (Jan. 6), also known as the Epiphany or Twelfth Night, kicked off the Mardi Gras season in Louisiana, with weeks of parades, balls and king cakes ahead. For those in Capitoland, however, it means Washington Mardi Gras, or Mardi Gras North, is just three weeks away. While the weeklong festival of events and networking has no choice but to collide with politics, this time around will be a little different. That’s because the package Congress approved to end the federal shutdown last year only extended funding through Jan. 30, meaning the deal expires at midnight on the evening of the Friday dinner and dance.
“Oh boy, this is going to be quite the Washington Mardi Gras, I guess,” Tyron Picard, a senior lieutenant with the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians, recently told LaPolitics.
The show, of course, must go on, led by this year’s king, Lake Charles business executive Gray Stream, and queen, Yale sophomore Sarah Heebe from New Orleans. Meanwhile, Congressman Steve Scalise of the 1st Congressional District is chair of the 77th Washington Mardi Gras. With a nod to the semiquincentennial, the theme is “Liberty & Lagniappe: Celebrating 250 Years of America!”
For those looking, some things will be new and maybe even improved. For instance, longtime Washington Mardi Gras revelers might be surprised to learn that Georgia Brown’s, the site of one of the week’s most well-attended brunches for lobbyists and others, is closing. But the majority of the staff has moved to The O Street Museum, and the brunch will follow them. For the fourth year in a row, there will also be a Lieutenant’s Encore Party, following the grand ball, promising breakfast, cocktails and music. The official WMG events will take place Jan. 29-31 at the Washington Hilton.
—JBE raising money: Gov. John Bel Edwards was the headliner last night for a fundraiser for a state House candidate in New Orleans’ District 97. The Democratic candidate benefitting from the help was Ed Murray. (That’s the son of the former state senator by the same name. The senior Murray worked in the Edwards Administration.) The event was held in New Orleans at the Toulouse Terrace.
— Scalise on Walz, fraud: U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Jefferson Parish went after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over alleged fraud in federally funded, state-run benefits programs. “This was all going on right under Tim Walz’s nose,” Scalise said on Fox News. “When we bring them in, believe me, those are going to be very tough questions that Gov. Walz himself will be asked: Did you know about it? Did people under you know about the participation? Did any of your friends profit off of this?”
—They said it: “I would be well satisfied to see him and his wife spend the rest of their days at Camp 57 in Angola.” –Gov. Jeff Landry on Nicolás Maduro, in Breitbart News
