More specifically, a House majority leader. We doubt Senate boss "Give 'em hell" Harry Reid ever blushes.

Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer grinned and seemed a bit sheepish today when reporters ribbed the majority leader about the Washington Post's front-page article on his rise to power.

At least two scribes called the piece, which included details of his beloved springer spaniel pup, "glowing." At the very least it was a flattering story.

"How much did you pay them?" one reporter asked Hoyer during his weekly briefing.

"I resented some of the attacks in that article but I'm not going to defend myself," he teased back.

-- Christina Bellantoni, Capitol Hill correspondent, The Washington Times