There could be two Senate elections next fall in Minnesota instead of just one.  If Sen. Al Franken steps down, there would be a special election for the remainder of his term.  Senior Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s seat is also up next year. ( Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken isn’t up for re-election until 2020.  But if he announces his resignation Thursday, the North Star State will be holding two Senate elections next fall. 

Ahead of next November, though, not much would shift in the Senate.  If Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Mark Dayton appoints another Democrat immediately, the balance of power in the Senate would remain unchanged. 

Micah Johnson walks with her boss Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, center, as they get off the Senate subway in May 2016.  Also pictured, North Carolina Sen. Richard M. Burr. ( Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

The president may be calling out lawmakers but congressional staffers have their bosses backs. 

Micah Johnson, communications director for retiring Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who has been in a war of words with President Donald Trump, defended her boss when she tweeted a cartoon mocking the president. 

The Guards’ Chad Nieto, center, tries to catch a pass in the end zone as California Rep. Pete Aguilar, left, and Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin break it up during the Congressional Football Game for Charity on Wednesday night. ( Bill Clark/Roll Call)

Even Santana Moss and Herschel Walker couldn’t help the members’ team.  The Capitol Police won the Congressional Football Game for Charity, 7-0, their fourth consecutive win. 

The members’ team — the Mean Machine — was made up of a bipartisan group of congressmen and congresswomen plus former NFL players, and the Capitol Police team was called the Guards, a reference to the classic football film “The Longest Yard.” 

Reps.  Suzan DelBene of Washington, second from right, and Mike Coffman of Colorado, right, assemble care packages in the Rayburn building Tuesday for members of the National Guard who are assisting in the hurricane cleanup efforts. ( Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The USO came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to get help from members and staffers in their efforts to send 1,500 care packages to National Guard members deployed to Florida and Texas to assist with Hurricanes Harvey and Irma relief. 

Hundreds of staffers and several members pitched in and helped the organization reach that goal within two hours. 

A large crop of House members are likely to retire in the coming months, not necessarily because President Donald Trump is polarizing, the parties are divided, or Capitol Hill is “dysfunctional” — but because 40 years of history tell us it’s going to happen. 

Dozens of dinosaurs took to the Capitol steps on Wednesday. ( Service Year via Twitter)

Congress is out but there were still plenty of dinosaurs at the Capitol on Wednesday.  Dozens of people dressed in orange and brown dinosaur costumes rallied to stop what they called national service extinction. 

The group, Service Year Alliance, is asking Congress to vote against President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts to YouthBuild, the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps programs. 

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., dropped into the Arizona Cardinals last day of training camp to wish the team well in the coming season. 

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey visited the team Wednesday and McCain made his appearance at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Thursday, Arizona Sports reported.  The senator chatted with players Larry Fitzgerald, Carson Palmer and David Johnson and the team’s president, Michael Bidwill. 

Democrats say the ouster of White House adviser Steve Bannon is a good first step. ( Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Democrats are glad President Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon is gone, but they say change is needed from the top down. 

Democratic members of Congress hammered the president for choosing Bannon, the former Breitbart executive, to plot strategy in the White House in the first place.  And they said if the president wants to repair the damage he has done, he should look inward.