Democratic Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia was stuck in a brutal traffic jam for more than 27 hours as a heavy snowstorm slammed the Washington, D.C. area.
But Senator Kaine went straight back to work in the Senate to craft voting rights legislation once he finished his 27+ hour commute.
The news of his safe arrival at work came from Katie Stuntz, who serves as Kaine's communications director.
Kaine had been keeping people informed of his whereabouts and progress via Twitter.
He also shared news of the kindness of strangers...
...and the emergency contact number for anyone less fortunate than him.
He marked the moment he'd been on the road for 27 hours.
Then added a final carside update upon arriving at work on Capitol Hill.
Once he'd arrived in Washington, Kaine spoke about his experience during a phone call with Washington radio station WTOP, saying he'd "never seen anything like it":
“This has been a miserable experience, but at some point I kind of made the switch from a miserable travel experience into kind of a survival project. I’ve never seen anything like it, I guess that’s all I can say."
Kaine spent his first out of the car meal with his son and daughter-in-law at the Red Hen restaurant as a birthday celebration.
Finally, Senator Kaine shared his gratitude for everyone's support and another thank you to the family from Connecticut who shared their oranges with other stranded motorists.
Despite the harshness of the experience, many praised Kaine for the way he responded to it.
Kaine later joked the Senate's progress on protecting every citizens' right to vote was as slow as his nightmarish commute.
Voting rights have taken center stage again after West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, one of the party's right leaning moderates, refused to back the "Build Back Better" agenda, an effort by House and Senate Democrats to codify much of their economic and social policy via a major spending bill.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has made clear that the Senate would “consider changes to any rules which prevent us from debating and reaching final conclusion on important legislation,” including voting rights legislation, reigniting debates on whether or not to abolish the filibuster.
President Joe Biden previously announced his support for amending Senate rules and changing the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.
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