Congressman goes viral for baby-wearing on Capitol Hill: ‘Guys need to do our part’

Things on Capitol Hill can get a little chaotic, so why not add an infant into the mix? Congressman and working dad Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) is going viral for showing up to work with his infant son in tow (or, rather, strapped to his chest) during the historic—and messy—vote to elect the Speaker of the House on Tuesday.

The whole Gomez family came to watch Congressman Gomez get sworn in for a fourth term, and they planned to tour the nation’s capital afterward.

“I have my wife, mom, siblings, their spouses, my baby, my niece and my two nephews (with me),” Gomez tells TODAY.com. “I think their heads are spinning.”

Unfortunately, those plans were derailed when members of the Republican House majority failed to elect a House speaker—the first time this has happened in a literal century—and Gomez went into full Dad Mode with his four-month-old son, Hodge. Because babies don’t abide by the drama of Congress.

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“His feedings are at 7:00 in the morning, then four hours later at 11:00, then again at 3:00 then at 7 o’clock at night,” Gomez explained to TODAY. “He’s an alarm clock. At three hours he starts getting fussy and cranky, and that’s when you have to keep him occupied because once he gets to three-and-a-half hours that’s when he gets really upset.”

It was important for little Hodge to join his dad when he cast his vote for the minority Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) because he was the first Black man to be elected to the position in U.S. history.

“On behalf of my son Hodge and all the working families who need an expanded Child Tax Credit, I cast my vote for Hakeem Jeffries,” Gomez said while wearing his handsome little guy (though the applause that followed was likely for the vote itself, we can’t be certain it wasn’t for Hodge as well.)

Gomez says he was baby-wearing because he’s a proud dad, not for clout, and he didn’t expect the vote for the majority Speaker to fail the way it did. And honestly, the fact that he’s gone viral for isn’t a bad thing—it serves to normalize the realities of life for working parents, as well as the fact that dads can and should be equal partners.

“I was doing it because I wanted to have Hodge there and I wanted to show him off,” he adds. “He’s my son and I’m proud of him. Hopefully, I won’t be the last member to babywear on the floor or to babywear and vote.”

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Rep. Gomez is the child of Mexican immigrants, so having their grandson with him on the job holds special meaning.

“Now their grandchild has been on the floor of the House of Representatives,” he says. “For me, it was a special day as a father and as an American.”

Half of today’s mothers are breadwinners who are also taking on most of the parenthood duties at home, according to Motherly’s 2022 State of Motherhood survey. Gomez says he hopes his baby-wearing while at work this week helps other dads see that it shouldn’t be that way.

“In the end, we have to normalize dads taking their kids with them, be it stay-at-home dads or working dads,” Gomez says. “When I took him to the floor, I think people were surprised — but it wasn’t a big deal. I think it does send a powerful message that us guys need to do our part. We don’t risk our lives bringing children into the world—women do.”