In a show of bipartisanship, Vice President Kamala Harris invited all 24 female senators to dinner at the Naval Observatory Tuesday evening.
According to Politico, bipartisan dinner parties used to take place more regularly prior to the past two election cycles.
“The quarterly dinners were started by former Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas). They were hosted at the home of a different senator every six weeks, with each lawmaker bringing a different dish," the outlet reported. "But since Mikulski retired in 2017, the dinners became less regular.”
Another factor making the dinner parties more difficult to plan is that the number of women in the Senate has grown considerably since the 1990s, reports Politico.
Plenty of photos from the evening are circulating on social media:
My fave kind of detail: the menu for the dinner hosted by @VP for the women of the Senate tonight. (photo via @SenatorFischer) pic.twitter.com/dQ1xS1J7Gl
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) June 16, 2021
Continuing our tradition of having a bipartisan, women Senators’ dinner. Thanks to the Vice President for hosting tonight. pic.twitter.com/4qalGRZh9A
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) June 16, 2021
What a wonderful bipartisan women Senators dinner at our @VP’s residence! Thank you Kamala! I am so proud of you! pic.twitter.com/l5sVNWO7lU
— Sen. Debbie Stabenow (@SenStabenow) June 16, 2021
Thank you, @VP Harris, for having us over tonight. pic.twitter.com/JvvSFUC25N
— Senator Deb Fischer (@SenatorFischer) June 16, 2021
Had a great time with my fellow female senators this evening! Thanks for hosting us, @VP. Cheers! pic.twitter.com/Xdgh3vfgtX
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) June 16, 2021
“It was a lovely event,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn said on Fox News afterwards, calling Harris a "gracious host."
“It wasn’t a policy discussion at all, but if she had brought up policies, I would have loved to have said, ‘Madame Vice President, you need to get to the border,'" she added. "It’s an evening of relationship-building.”
According to The New York Times, Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) were not in attendance.
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