It is not one thing you see daily at congressional listening to on the financial system and rates of interest.
As members of Congress grilled Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday — one lawmaker requested questions together with her tousled-haired 5-month-old child squirming in her lap.
Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen introduced her son Sam to the listening to and by some means was in a position to hold him quiet whereas she questioned Powell about financial coverage.
Pettersen, who has not shied away from together with her son as part of her official Capitol Hill duties, requested Powell in regards to the nationwide debt as Sam — wearing a yellow onesie — appeared lower than .
At one level, Powell requested Pettersen to repeat one in every of her questions.
“I am going to do that the most effective I can with Sam right here,” the Colorado Democrat responded with amusing.
Rep. Brittany Pettersen holds her son Sam whereas questioning Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell throughout a listening to of the Home Committee on Monetary Providers on Capitol Hill, June 24, 2025, in Washington.
Home Committee on Monetary Providers
On the finish of Pettersen’s allotted time for questions, Powell thanked her — and acknowledged her tiny tagalong, with, “and thanks, Sam.”
Whereas it was not Sam’s first House hearing — that was in April — infants and younger kids are hardly commonplace within the Capitol.
“Rep. Pettersen is on the waitlist for little one care like most Individuals. And like all mothers, she finds a strategy to make it work,” a spokesperson from Pettersen’s workplace mentioned of Sam’s look on the listening to Tuesday.
Earlier this yr, Pettersen held then-9-week-old Sam throughout a passionate speech on the House floor. She returned early from day without work to talk in help of a bipartisan effort to permit proxy voting for lawmakers who, like her, are new mother and father.
“I feel that we are able to accommodate for the brand new office challenges right here in Congress to ensure extra ladies and younger households will be represented right here now,” she mentioned as Sam cooed and squealed in her arms.
The measure failed within the Home in April, however Pettersen has continued to push for parental privileges for members of Congress — saying “Congress was not made for ladies” in a post on X in April.
Pettersen is barely the thirteenth Home member to offer delivery whereas in Congress.
“That is not as a result of mothers do not belong — this place wasn’t constructed for us,” she wrote in a post on X.
