Hastert hand-me-downs
Wheaton Congressman and GOP Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam has released a web video on his Facebook page about a new gift that's arrived in his D.C. office - a personal desk from House Speaker Dennis Hastert, that previously belonged to other Republican members of leadership from Illinois.
That video, above, shows the desk being moved into his Cannon House office building, and Roskam, afterwards, pointing out the signatures inscribed inside the various drawers.
He also pulls out a note that Hastert left for him in one of the side drawers - but, in a bit of a tease, doesn't tell you what he wrote.
The desk, you'll see, has a long and distinguished history among Illinois Members of Congress. First used by Majority Whip Leslie Arends in the late 1940s, it was then passed down to then-Minority Leader Congressman Robert Michel in the 1980s, then in turn to Hastert.
As chief deputy whip, Roskam's the No. 4 man on the party totem pole - in line behind House Speaker John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Whip Kevin McCarthy, something we talked about in depth in our recent Washington series.
He's also in the spot that Hastert held before becoming speaker.
