Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) is hoping to bring some Tennessee star power to the Capitol when he hosts his famous 15-minute Christmas party later this month.
The gathering, slated for Dec. 11, will be held at his tiny Longworth office from noon to 12:15 p.m., I can exclusively report, and Burchett is teasing a special musical guest for this year’s festivities.
“I’m thinking maybe we’ll get somebody to come in from Tennessee, if I can,” Burchett told me. “I’m working on it, but we’ll see.”
Burchett, who represents Knoxville, the cradle of country music, was tight-lipped about who he’s considering but did hint he’s looking at performers with some notoriety.
“Oh yeah, I’m not gonna bring in some clodhopper,” Burchett said when asked if the singer might be someone notable.
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The limiting factor will be Burchett’s party budget. If you’re familiar with the Cheez Whiz and Ritz crackers he bills as “charcuterie,” you won’t be shocked to hear it’s not very big. In years past, Burchett has recruited Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), and other members of his Thursday prayer group to sing traditional Christmas songs.
“It’s between free and nothing,” Burchett said of his budget.
He has not yet finalized a Santa Claus for the party, but it won’t be Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who played the part in 2023, or George Santos, the expelled lawmaker who came as “Santos Claus” last year. Burchett first began hosting his Christmas party in 2022.
In a bit of holiday rivalry, Burchett took a light jab at Santos for hosting a separate Christmas celebration this year that reprises the Santos Claus theme. The event comes weeks after President Donald Trump commuted Santos’s seven-year prison sentence.
“I started a real trend,” Burchett said of the theme, “but I’m going to let it slide, because he is a friend.”
The special guests are just about the only changes you should expect for Burchett’s holiday party, which is open to anyone who works on Capitol Hill. I received a resounding yes on whether he’ll be breaking out the Mountain Dew and setting up his usual peanut butter and jelly station.
“Oh, absolutely,” Burchett said. “Does a Baptist church got a bus? Of course, I am. I mean, when people are given something over the top, they come to expect it every year.”
As always, he’s encouraging visitors to come early — lines extend down the hall — and said his 15-minute limit will be strictly enforced. He says the short-and-sweet format was inspired by the “wine breath” and droning conversations he’s had to endure at other office holiday parties.
I also learned that Burchett used to host large gatherings back home when he was the mayor of Knoxville, and that he scrapped them after a thief stole his underwear. (He insists this actually happened.)
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“Yeah, we used to open up the house, and one year, we had over 100 people, but it got to be too much,” Burchett said. “I looked on eBay the next week, and somebody was selling my boxer shorts on eBay, and I’m pretty sure they took it during my Christmas party.”
Nowadays, the Burchett family’s holiday celebrations are a low-key affair.