In a tweet on Thursday night, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) praised the teacher who, "without a gun," successfully confronted a school shooter.

Saddened about another school shooting today, luckily no one was killed. A teacher talked the gunman down…without a gun. That's courage.

— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) January 11, 2013

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) got pretty excited about a blue checkmark by his name on Thursday.

Thank you to @gov for verifying our account! #bluecheck

— Rep. Stephen Lynch(@RepStephenLynch) January 10, 2013

Lynch, who joined Twitter in June 2011, has apparently suffered in silence without Twitter verifying his membership until this week.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tweeted a warning to President Obama on Thursday that the use of an executive order to implement gun control “won’t go down well with Congress or the American people.”

The Obama Administration better tread lightly on the issue of using Executive Orders to implement gun control measures.

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) January 10, 2013

Gun control by Executive Order could be a power grab that won’t go down well with Congress or the American people.

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) January 10, 2013

Several female Democrats were particularly interested in one Oscar contender announced on Thursday.

The movie “The Invisible War” was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Documentary Feature, and Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) took to Twitter to congratulate filmmakers on raising awareness on the subject of military rape.

Congrats to "The Invisible War" on #OscarsNoms. An important film on a topic I've been addressing for years. We must keep making progress.

— Louise Slaughter (@louiseslaughter) January 10, 2013

Congrats to @invisible_war on your @theacademy Oscar nomination! Well deserved, your moving film has focused nat’l spotlight on #MST

— Niki Tsongas (@nikiinthehouse) January 10, 2013

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) on Thursday congratulated her state on helping turn two movies into Oscar contenders.

Louisiana's film industry is giving #Hollywood a run for its money. Congrats to Hollywood South on its 2 #Oscarnoms bit.ly/Sm82Tl

— Senator Landrieu (@SenLandrieu) January 10, 2013

Lawmakers offer information on flu shots, tips to stay healthy. 

Petitions are becoming a popular way to snag the ear of the White House, with recent petitions that achieved an official response including a request to deport CNN host Piers Morgan, release the White House beer recipe and build a "Death Star" space station.

Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) likely hopes that a new petition he signed Wednesday will earn similar attention.

I signed this @whitehouse petition b/c the law requires @senatedems pass a #budget but they haven’t in 1,351 days: wh.gov/Pn7K #ar2

— Rep. Tim Griffin (@RepTimGriffin) January 9, 2013

The White House defended Morgan's First Amendment right to free speech regarding the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The White House's "photo of the day" on Wednesday prominently features President Obama meeting with female advisers in the Oval Office.

Photo of the day: President Obama meets with senior advisers in the Oval Office, Jan. 8, 2013: twitter.com/whitehouse/sta…

— The White House (@whitehouse) January 9, 2013

The White House commonly shares a "photo of the day," typically from one of the president's meetings or from a unique guest's visit to the White House, but today's photo is very similar to one that prompted controversy earlier this week when The New York Times commented on the "all-male look" of Obama's inner circle. That photo featured Obama meeting with ten advisers, all men.