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Day in the Life: Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.)
ITK proudly presents a new semi-regular feature, detailing a day in the life of lawmakers and their staff. For our premiere piece, Rep. David Schweikert, 51, describes his caffeine- and Twitter-fueled routine that took place on March 12.
5:30 a.m. Alarm clock. It’s 2:30 a.m. in Arizona. Enough said.
5:40 a.m. Wake up to triple shot of espresso. That’s enough breakfast for me.
8 a.m. Start off the day in the office.
8:30 a.m. Make espressos for staff to ensure sure they are also caffeinated enough to function.
8:45 a.m. Check in with staff to see what’s going on in the world, respond to phone calls, texts, emails, tweets and Facebook posts.
9 a.m. Check fixed income futures. Usually CNBC, Fox Business Network and Bloomberg are on rotation in my office.
9:15 a.m. – 12 p.m. Constantly in and out of constituent meetings, votes, meetings with staff, making more coffee and TV or radio interviews.
11:20 a.m. Check in with staff to see how the day is unfolding, respond to phone calls, texts, emails, tweets and Facebook posts.
11:40 a.m. Make a vanilla cappuccino.
12 p.m. Lunchtime at my desk. Eat microwaveable Trader Joe’s Indian food meals. Or go to the Ethiopian food truck parked near the Hill.
12:15 p.m. Check 10-year Treasury yield.
12:15 p.m. – 3 p.m. Meet with students and families from Arizona that are touring the Capitol, drop in on meetings that my staff has in the office, pop in [on] my neighbors[’] — mostly Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) — offices to bother them, make more coffee.
1:10 p.m. Check in with staff to see how the day is unfolding, respond to phone calls, texts, emails, tweets and Facebook posts.
1:25 p.m. Make another vanilla cappuccino.
3 p.m. – 6 p.m. Usually we are voting and debating on the floor through this time. Run back and forth from my office to the House floor to balance votes and meetings.
3:10 p.m. Munch on snacks I bought for the staff from Costco.
3:15 p.m. Tune in before Closing Bell to see the day’s performances.
3:45 p.m. Check in with staff to see how the day is unfolding, respond to phone calls, texts, emails, tweets and Facebook posts.
4:40 p.m. I’m hungry. Rifle through my staff’s desks for dark chocolate. Make note to cover my tracks if I find any.
5 p.m. Unofficial end of the day roundup with staff.
5:15 p.m. Make another vanilla cappuccino.
6:30 p.m. Staff starts to trickle out. Look around to see if they left any chocolate laying [sic] out. Eat it.
6:15 p.m. Stop by dinners or events with other colleagues.
7 p.m. Check in with my wife Joyce and our dog Charlie (#CharlieTakesDC) and our cats.
7:15 p.m. Forward cute pictures my wife sent me of my dog Charlie to anyone who cares. If they don’t I tweet them out, hoping someone else will.
8 p.m. Finally dinner. Go down to the Longworth House Office building’s vending machines. I usually go for the burger.
8:10 p.m. Eat vending machine burger at my desk. Start making calls back to constituents.
8:15 – 9:30 p.m. It’s dinnertime in Arizona. Continue to call constituents back and touch base with those contacting our office who want to speak to me.
9:30 p.m. Feel guilty about only eating vending machine food. Go to the gym.
10:15 p.m. Back from gym, read and prepare for the next day.
11:30 p.m. Bed time. Think about the $6 billion Washington has spent in just 24 hours[’] time.
If you or your boss work at the Capitol and want to be featured in a future “Day in the Life,” tip your ITK columnist at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Photos (top) Rep. David Schweikert/Courtesy: Getty (right) Courtesy: Flickr
