Senators take taxpayer-funded midday break to don protective eyewear and gaze ... trends now
Time seemed to stop and the normal business of Capitol Hill slammed to a halt while lawmakers, aides and the press all peered into the sun.
The lawmakers - usually divided by political affiliation - were, at least momentarily, drawn together by an event that humankind has revered for millenniums - a solar eclipse.
As the moon rotated into position in front of the sun hundreds of people stood outside of the Capitol, many with mouths agape, enjoying the rare celestial show.
Even though Congress has not been in session for the last two weeks - out on Easter and Passover recess - work, apparently, could wait a little longer.
Legislative battles over foreign aid funding, an ongoing border security crisis and banning TikTok may have been important weeks ago, but seemingly they were not on Monday.
'We've got a crescent sun,' Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., told DailyMail.com as he stared at the sun. 'I've never seen the sun in this condition before.'
Two Democrat Senators stepped outside of the Capitol Monday to watch the solar eclipse
Light cloud cover in Washington, D.C. did not totally interfere with people's view of the solar eclipse Monday
He said the weather provided 'really great conditions' for the solar eclipse and that it appeared as 'a reverse of night.'
'First and final meeting of the Committee on the Eclipse,' Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., joked in a post on X accompanied by a photo featuring several lawmakers all donning protective glasses staring at the sun with their mouths wide-open.
He was accompanied by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told DailyMail.com he saw a crescent
