WASHINGTON — Near the cafeteria of the Rayburn House Office Building, right next to the trash bins, is a drab room with rows of cubicles wistfully called the “Departing Member Center.”
After every election, sitting members of the House who are retiring or lost their race are relegated to this sad wing for their final weeks in office. At the same time, incoming members show up for a freshman orientation that culminates in gleefully picking out paint colors, drapes and furniture for the offices they will occupy for at least the next two years.
The transition period is a thorny time on Capitol Hill, occupied simultaneously by anticipation and resignation. Attention is showered on wide-eyed new members flooding the halls while those departing are rather ungraciously shunted aside in their final days.
A staffer for one California House member called it “the Congress experience at its worst.”
Even outgoing Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) — elected Nov. 6 to serve as California’s next U.S. senator — was told he had until last Wednesday to vacate his House office.
“I walked back to do a staff photo in my House office, and my name had already been taken off the wall,” he said. “So there was this blank space on the wall. I’m like, oh my God, they’ve taken my name!”
Like most, he was wholly unimpressed by the temporary digs offered in the departing member center. He has a separate basement office that he described as “totally luxurious” by comparison.
Fortunately for Schiff, he will take over outgoing Sen. Laphonza Butler’s space when she and her team leave next month.
Incoming House members met early Thursday morning at the Capitol for the 119th congressional office lottery, a tradition that started with the 60th Congress in 1908.
Members were called at random to approach a polished wooden box holding numbered chips that determined the order in which they would get to choose an available office suite. Those with the lowest numbers would get first pick.
It was a moment of competitive levity at the end of their whirlwind two-week orientation — but also one of high stakes. It determined whether their staff would work in a spacious suite with window views of the National Mall and a short walk to the Capitol building, or be stuck with something far less impressive and convenient.
Rep.-elect Craig Goldman (R-Tex.) was up first. He got 48.
“Oh, that hurts!” Rep.-elect Sam Liccardo (D-San Jose) jokingly heckled from the sidelines. “Enjoy the basement!”
Members cheered in unison when one of their colleagues pulled a low number, and groaned when they pulled a high number.
Rep.-elect Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood) pumped her fists and did a sign of the cross as she walked up to the lottery box. She got 43.
Rep.-elect Laura Friedman, (D-Glendale) posted a selfie with Rivas on X as the process got underway, calling it “the Capitol’s equivalent of a sporting event.”
When it was Liccardo’s turn, he did an arm wave — he later said veteran members of Congress had told him there was a tradition of dancing for good luck. But he winced as he looked down at his chip: 47.
“I finished better in the election,” he said.
Rep.-elect Lateefah Simon (D-Richmond) attended but didn’t participate in the lottery. She said she had submitted a request to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for an accessible office that could meet the needs of people with disabilities. On Wednesday, Johnson approved her request, giving her an office on the first floor of the Longworth House Office Building.
“I’m a disability advocate, the only disabled person in this class, and I ran on that,” said Simon, who was born legally blind. “What a wonderful way to start my process here at the Capitol, being able to say to the disability community … your needs will be accommodated.”
Candidates in races that haven’t been called yet could not participate in the lottery. In California, two races remain too close to call. Rep. John Duarte (R-Modesto), who is up against Democrat Adam Gray, had a lead of just 210 votes Friday afternoon. Democrat Derek Tran was beating incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Seal Beach) by 480 votes.
Duarte’s spokesman Duane Dichiara said it’s strange that the timing of California races being called and the regular churn of Congress don’t sync.
“The way to deal with it would be to make California count their ballots in a reasonable time period,” he said. “It should integrate with how Congress actually works and not just be at the whims of the county registrar.”
Tran attended the new member orientation, but Gray did not. In 2022, when Duarte and Gray were separated by 564 votes, both attended the orientation.
When it comes to choosing an office, Liccardo said that if Gray and Tran beat the incumbents, they would take over their offices.
“It’s actually a blessing in disguise,” he said. “We’re all very jealous of Derek Tran because he’s probably got it in the bag — and he’s got a nice suite, too.”
Simon will represent the district currently represented by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who is retiring. Lee’s staffers have moved out of her coveted office with a view of the Capitol and are now working out of cafes, Simon said.
“It’s crazy, right?” she said. “There’s really no place for them. They have a lot of ingenuity in trying to figure out how to finish the work.”
