Sitcom heroes, sports analogies, and rap parodies: How sassy floor charts have spiced up Congress

• Members of Congress often use floor charts to aid with their speeches that contain charts, images, and text.
• Many times, the charts aren't the most visually appealing or intriguing.

Longtime Houston-based Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is no stranger to the political airwaves.

Dedicated congressional broadcaster C-SPAN says it has approximately 3,600 clips (and counting) of the Texas Democrat speaking her mind.

For years, she's used simple visual aids to complement her speeches on the House floor, standing alongside blown-up images of victims of gun violence while advocating for banning assault weapons, or trotting out colorful charts and maps to highlight regional concerns.

More recently, however, Jackson Lee and her staff took a different approach when discussing permitting reform, enlarging a meme from the hit television show "Parks and Recreation" to take a jab at Republicans.

Jackson Lee said injecting a little humor into congressional messaging helps keep everyone better engaged.

"This floor is a dialogue with the American people," she told Insider between votes at the US Capitol. "The more they can understand and appreciate that you're on their side, that's what I attempt to do."

The 15-term lawmaker noted that while her universe of props is somewhat limited — "We can't use videos. We can't use TikToks," she said of verboten social media tools — punctuating a speech with a striking image makes the discussion that much more memorable.

"We can make it clear ... that what I'm saying today is about making your life — Houstonians, Texans, the nation — better. And I haven't forgotten you," she said.

Humor can also be used to make a mundane topic, like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, more palatable and interesting, as evidenced by Rep. Sean Casten.

In 2021, the Illinois Democrat declared it was "Hot FERC Summer," riffing on rapper Megan Thee Stallion's 2019 anthem "Hot Girl Summer."

As part of that campaign, Casten's staff re-edited and showcased oversized images of album art for Megan Thee Stallion's song, Fergie's "Fergalicious", Rihanna's "Work," and Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" during presentations on the House floor.

According to Emilia Rowland, Casten's former communication director and the current communications director for Democratic Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, added that humor works best when it's "authentic."

"I think there's a way of making politics fun and lighter that doesn't take away from the seriousness," Rowland said. "For Sean, authenticity meant really capturing the goofy, climate nerd he is. There were still people that made fun of it and thought it was cringey or something like that, but I think cringey can work if it feels authentic."

While there are specific offices in the House and Senate — House Creative Services and the Senate Office of Printing, Graphics, and Direct Mail — that offer design and printing services for members of Congress, many congressional offices have their own creative teams to draft graphics for floor charts.

When using in-shop services, according to a video posted by House Creative Services, the group charged up to $50 to print and mount a 30 inch by 40 inch poster in addition to a $50 design fee, if applicable, and costs are later billed to the representative's "Members Representational Allowance." According to three Senate sources, Senate offices do not have to pay for their own floor charts.

Members of Congress can also print their posters in the institutional offices of the Republican and Democratic Parties.

Getting America's attention

When William Gray created his Tumblr blog, "Senate Charts," more than a decade ago, he didn't expect it to become such a prominent part of his career. The blog's since changed its name to "Floor Charts" and has a 10,000-plus strong follower count on Twitter where it continues to entertain Washington, DC's nerdiest bunch.

"It goes into cover letters," he told Insider. "When I've applied for jobs, it's gotten me interviews in places I never would've imagined."

Now, more than 10 years later, Gray's become the foremost expert and fan of congressional floor charts, the posters that are showcased by legislators on the floors of the Senate and House.

And while Gray's following includes congressional staffers who periodically alert him to upcoming charts they plan on using on the floor of Congress, much of his blog's posts are the result of an arduous, methodical archival process.

"What started as kind of a funny Twitter thing evolved into years and years and years of combing through C-SPAN archival footage, pretty much 10 seconds at a time, and screenshotting, tagging, and uploading every single chart I could find."

Ultimately, as Gray noted, legislators and their aides enjoy seeing their work get recognized in some form or fashion.

"It's true on the Republican side, the Democratic side, the staff who were in committees, I've made lots of just random connections because they like that somebody cares that they put time and effort into creating posters and charts on the floor of the House and the Senate and someone's paying attention."

Yuri Beckelman, who serves as chief of staff to freshman Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, may be one of the biggest fans of Gray's archival work. In 2018, while working as the deputy chief of staff for Rep. Mark Takano, Beckelman worked with the California Democrat, Tumblr, and the Society for News Design to create "International Chart Day."

"I have lots of random ideas and Takano's office was great because he wanted to run with them and just like have fun with them," Beckelman said. "Some of them worked out, some of them didn't, and we just came up with this idea about a chart day. It was very ostentatious of us to assume that we would invent the international day of [something]. But that was the point, right? It was a bit tongue-in-cheek."

Takano, whose team used to run an official Tumblr page titled "There Will Be Charts," ultimately rewarded Gray's effort by mentioning him on the House floor, forever enshrining him in the Congressional Record.

Additionally, as part of International Chart Day, Gray curated an art display in the Rayburn Foyer on the Hill with 80 "of the best congressionally produced charts to ever show up on C-SPAN."

Smiling, Beckelman told Insider the decision to showcase the floor charter like works of art alongside wine and cheese was admittedly a little silly but said, "the point we were trying to make was the value of information, how it can be conveyed, and that we should be celebrating people who do that great work."

Bryan Metzger contributed reporting.