Lobbyists edge out lawmakers in charity hockey showdown

Tolu Talabi

The Hill

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Lobbyists edge out lawmakers in charity hockey showdown

A group of lawmakers on Thursday evening traded their suits for skates at the 16th annual Congressional Hockey Challenge but returned to the Capitol without a trophy after losing in the first-ever overtime game.

Team Lobbyists, who took the win last year, beat Team Lawmakers 4-3 in a historic shootout, breaking the ice after a 3-3 tie.

“Nobody remembers the loser,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who was on Team Lawmakers and has played hockey since he was 3, told The Hill following the game.

“Yeah, I could have scored a goal,” he added, while chuckling. “My goodness, I came close but they didn’t utilize me the way they should have. Part of the problem is our coaching is pretty weak.”

The players skated into the rink at MedStar Capitals Iceplex with a shared goal: to raise money for charity and grow the sport of hockey in underserved communities.

Team Lobbyists wore dark blue jerseys, while Team Lawmakers, clothed in white jerseys, featured congressional members and prominent faces such as FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Secretary of the Interior Kate MacGregor. The team also received help from 2018 Olympic gold medalist Haley Skarupa.

Patel, who grew up playing hockey in Garden City, N.Y., made his debut as a player for Team Lawmakers last year. He told the National Hockey League in 2025 that he would make his return this year “if they don’t fire me.”

The game started off with fiery sportsmanship from both teams in the first period, ending even at 1-1. In the second period, Team Lobbyists were up 3-2. Then came the third period, when the game became heated.

With 1:57 left on the clock, Billy Dwyer came in with a strike following a feed from fellow congressional staffer Casey Fitzpatrick and Emmer, tying the game and sending it to overtime — ultimately leading up to the Team Lobbyists victory in the shootout.

“We were really hoping to win this year because last year was not as good. If you look at the score, it was pretty disappointing,” MacGregor told The Hill. “I think in that third period when we got really close and we were totally pressing for the net, I thought we had it, unfortunately not. Maybe next year.”

Team Lawmakers goalkeeper Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.), who learned only a day and a half before the game that he would be participating, said he hoped the match might have turned in their favor during overtime.

“I mean, shots on the net,” Bresnahan, a first-term lawmaker, told The Hill.

It was his first time being a goalie since 2008. He hadn’t worn his pads since his senior year of high school, and he said he “felt alive” during Thursday’s game. His wife, Chelsea Bresnahan, who came to support him, pulled the pads out of the attic.

Chelsea held up signs, some reading “Go Rob” and “Goal Denied,” alongside his staffers during the game.

During the challenge, various players looked toward the stands or would tap their sticks on the glass to get the attention of their families and supporters — including wives, children, grandchildren and congressional staffers.

The Congressional Hockey Challenge raised nearly $200,000 this year and has brought in more than $1.5 million for charities since 2009, according to the event coordinators. Beneficiaries include the NHL Foundation, Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, USA Hockey Warriors Ice Hockey Program, Capital Warriors Beltway Hockey Program, the Tampa Warriors Hockey Heals event and the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.

Adrienne Mortimer, a lobbyist who has attended the Congressional Hockey Challenge for 10 years, predicted that Team Lawmakers would take the win — though she came to support Team Lobbyist and her husband, who was a referee.

“I honestly thought the lawmakers would take it back,” she said, referencing the lawmakers’ loss in 2025. But, Mortimer added, the lobbyists “kept the puck out of the net. That’s how they won.”

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