Overview

• Justice marked his bulldog Babydog’s sixth birthday on the fifth floor of the Hart Senate Office Building, drawing a line of staffers for photos.
• Hill aides from both parties attended, creating a brief moment of levity inside a Capitol complex otherwise focused on the funding stalemate.
• Justice said he personally paid for the party supplies and shrugged off concerns about the optics.
• He framed the gathering as a morale boost, saying Babydog makes people smile and loves everyone regardless of party.
• Later that day, the Senate again rejected a Republican-backed continuing resolution on its ninth vote as the shutdown stretched beyond two weeks.