Beads, bones and bipartisanship: Sen. Thom Tillis' last pawrade

Savannah Behrmann, CQ-Roll Call on Feb 25, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — Purple and green tutus, boas and sparkles sprinkled the atrium of the Hart Building on Wednesday for what has become one of the most popular events on Capitol Hill: a bipartisan costume dog “pawrade.”

While this year’s celebrated Mardi Gras, the event is typically Halloween-themed — but last fall’s was canceled due to the partial government shutdown.

And for Sen. Thom Tillis, it was important that another be held. Last year’s canceled parade was supposed to be the last for the North Carolina Republican.

“Even in this world, where we are so serious about so many things, isn’t it nice to just kind of have a smile on your face and a dog all dressed up? That’s why we’re doing this,” Tillis said to the gathered crowd on Wednesday, speaking through a megaphone and rocking Mardi Gras beads.

According to Tillis — who largely made his decision to retire due to the political environment — which holiday they ended up celebrating was less important than bringing people together for the tradition, attended by members of Congress, staff, reporters and droves of dogs.

“You can be good at this job and not be serious 24/7, as a matter of fact,” Tillis said. “The reality is, when I came here in ’14, we were tumultuous. We just have more amplifiers and things to get more people stressed today than we had even when I got here.”

With Tillis heading to the exit door, a successor to carry on the hosting duties has yet to be officially named. But a heavy hitter emerged during the parade: Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia, whose 60-plus-pound English bulldog Babydog has become something of a cultural phenomenon.

Justice said when Tillis retires, “I’ll take it over.”

Tillis named Babydog the grandmaster of Wednesday’s parade when she was rolled down the aisle, her wagon draped in shiny purple and green streamers.

Events like this “matter because we all need to be respectful of one another,” Justice said. “This light moment makes us better in every way it touches our soul.”

“For crying out loud, if you don’t love these kinds of moments, then you need to go live in a cave in my book,” he added.

Tillis said he was “working” with Justice’s office about the event. “He’s just a great member, and he’s senior enough to get out the most effective people around here and build relationships,” he said.

A passionate dog owner himself, Tillis currently has two: Mitch, named after former GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Theo, after the late president Theodore Roosevelt.

When he first hosted the costume parade several years ago, Tillis reminisced, it was so unexpectedly popular, “police thought it was some sort of a protest.” But with the Senate taking a month-long recess this October, as is usual in election years, it’s unclear if there will be an event this fall.

“There’s never a bad time to get people to come together and have a little laugh (over something) that we share. You know, we’re a dog culture. It’s kind of kind of fun to see it.”

_____