Paul Ryan’s sleep habits could give a glimpse into how Congress operates

Now we know why Paul Ryan demanded family time.

The new Speaker of the House famously demanded a guarantee of family time before agreeing to run for speaker.

As important as the job is, he wanted to strike a balance. That drew a few snarky tweets saying, yeah, Ryan demands family time for himself, but he votes against family leave for everyone else.

And then Sunday on “Face the Nation,” John Dickerson asked him a question that revealed just how Paul Ryan defines his work/life balance.

“Are you still going to sleep in your office?” Dickerson asked.

“Yeah, I am. I work here from dawn until about midnight and I’m just going to sleep in my office because it’s very convenient,” he responded.

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Works dawn to midnight and sleeps in the office. I’m pretty sure the family doesn’t join him there. The family time he’s referring to is getting weekends off.

And he’s not alone. RollCall.com estimates that as many as 70 members of the House live in their offices and shower in the House gym. I know one member who used to sleep in an old walk-in safe. He showed it to me. Creepy!

And it’s not just because of the workload. It’s because Congressional salaries have been frozen since 2010, and a one-bedroom apartment near Capitol Hill runs $23,000 a year. So sleeping in the office saves real money.

And that’s when it hit me: this must be why ideas like family leave and the minimum wage can’t get anywhere in the House. Because there’s quite a few members of Congress who probably feel they have it at least as tough you do.