WASHINGTON DC — TMZ, the outlet known for tracking celebrities outside restaurants, gas stations, courthouses, and private residences, has turned its paparazzi-style coverage toward the U.S. Congress, posting photos and videos of lawmakers at airports, in Las Vegas, and at Disney World during the partial government shutdown. The content has been viewed millions of times as the shutdown entered its seventh week, leaving thousands of Department of Homeland Security employees without pay.

TMZ issued a public call for tips on lawmaker sightings, posting on social media: "TMZ is on the hunt for photos of politicians on vacay as TSA officers suffer!" The outlet also interviewed a Transportation Security Administration worker who was going without pay during the shutdown. Harvey Levin, the founder and executive producer of TMZ, said in a statement: "It outraged us so much we wanted to use our platforms to show how Congress – Dems AND Republicans – have betrayed us." Levin also said: "We spontaneously came up with the idea to juxtapose members of Congress on their Spring Break against federal workers who are losing their homes, their cars, their livelihoods."

Among the lawmakers featured, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, was photographed at Disney World in Florida riding Space Mountain and carrying a bubble wand. TMZ captioned the photos: "Lindsey Graham lives it up at Disney World during the partial government shutdown!" The outlet published the images on its homepage under the headline "Living in Fantasyland as Government Shutdown Drags On." The photos were viewed more than 5 million times on X and drew responses from Gov. Gavin Newsom and commentator Tucker Carlson. Graham told TMZ: "I voted seven times to fully fund the government. Call a Democrat." He said he had been in Florida for a meeting with Trump administration officials and had visited the park with a friend.

TMZ also published coverage of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, and Sen. Ted Cruz, with Cruz as the lead story on the site. Videos showed senators moving through airports, often shielding themselves from cameras, with headlines overlaid. The outlet reported that Democratic Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island was headed to a Real Housewives watch party and photographed Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California at a Las Vegas casino.

Garcia said: "Actually I don't mind what TMZ is doing here. Like I said a few days ago, Speaker Mike Johnson should have never sent us all home."

TMZ, which was acquired by Fox in 2021 in a deal estimated at $50 million, has maintained a team on Capitol Hill that includes a producer and a photographer conducting hallway interviews with senators and representatives. In February, the team stopped Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee, outside the Capitol Hill Club and asked him about Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show, resulting in the headline: "Congressman Tim Burchett: Only Bad Bunny I Know Is My Late Horny Pet." A TMZ interview clip with Rep. Sara Jacobs was viewed 6 million times on X.

The shutdown had lasted 45 days. The Senate reached a funding deal last week, but House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected it and House Republicans passed their own version before recess. Republican congressional leadership had not agreed to end the recess early.