Sen Justice throws birthday party for Babydog amid shutdown, says 'This place needs to smile'

West Virginia GOP Sen. Jim Justice threw a birthday party this week for his bulldog, Babydog, at his congressional office amid the government shutdown.

On Wednesday, Justice's office in the Hart Senate Office Building had birthday cakes and a line wrapped around the fifth floor hallway for pictures with him and Babydog, NOTUS reported.

Justice said when asked about the optics of throwing a birthday party for a dog in the midst of a government shutdown that this might be the best time.

“This place needs to smile and be respectful of one another, and that’s what Babydog’s all about. I mean, she makes people smile, and she loves everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, Black, white, God forbid, Republican or Democrat,” Justice told NOTUS. "We’ve got the government shut down, and people are out there really hurting, and I think it’s too much of a contest to me,” he said.

Justice explained that he personally paid for all the party supplies and was not worried about the potential optics of the event.

The English bulldog frequently accompanied Justice to events when he was governor of West Virginia, so much so that she came a "fixture" in state politics, according to The Washington Post. And now Justice continues to bring her to events on Capitol Hill.

“My dad used to tell me, ‘Son, if you know and the good Lord knows, that’s all that matters,’ and I do know,” Justice said. “I’m doing it because it’s Babydog’s birthday, and I love her to death.”

He added, “I never expected in a million years all these people would come.”

Hill staffers from both political parties attended Babydog's birthday party, and they all received a bulldog-shaped cake pop and an opportunity to sign a birthday card.

Following the party, the Senate voted on the Republican-supported continuing resolution, which failed for the ninth time.