Did anyone have TMZ becoming a political watchdog on their BINGO card for 2026?

Since its inception in 2005, TMZ (which *fun fact* stands for Thirty Mile Zone) has been the go-to place for news and gossip in the Hollywood scene. It’s also been a breeding ground for some of the worst ethics you’ll find in the journalism industry.

Despite its focus on Hollywood entertainment, TMZ has dipped its toes in politics quite a bit over the years. But never as much as with this new initiative.

A few days ago, TMZ Managing Editor Harvey Levin and Executive Producer Charles Latibeaudiere posted a video on X with the request that travelers send in photos of Congress members vacationing during their two-week spring recess. This comes in the midst of a partial government shutdown that has created a nightmare at our airports. Most notably, it’s affected the pockets of federal workers.

The shutdown is due to Congress’s failure to reach a resolution regarding funding for the Department of Homeland Security — specifically funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the last days before the planned recess, the House and Senate passed two vastly different measures to reopen DHS. But with no clear resolution from either chamber, the DHS remains unfunded.

Both sides have continued to shift the blame for the government's failure onto each other. Republicans blame the Democrats. Democrats blame the Republicans. You know, the same gist of our two-party political system.

But that hasn’t stopped our elected officials from having a good time while many around the world suffer the consequences of their (lack of) action.

One photo submitted to TMZ showed Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California) living it up at a casino in Las Vegas. Another set of photos shows Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) travelling to Fort Lauderdale for a vacation.

But my personal favorite has to be none other than GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham having a grand ole’ time at Disney World. In one of the pictures, Graham is seen holding a bubble wand. No, I’m not making that up.

Graham defended his trip, stating that he was just passing by while he did business with President Trump in Florida. A short time later, however, he was pictured boarding the iconic Space Mountain roller coaster.

I’ve got a lot of thoughts about this — especially since Graham is one of the main spokesmen in favor of the ongoing Iran war. But this quote from TMZ’s article expresses the current situation better.

“It's a sad state of affairs when the line Lindsey waited in for Space Mountain is shorter than the line to go through TSA at airports across the country,” TMZ wrote

By the way, let me give credit where credit is due. Good on TMZ for doing this. The outlet gets a bad, but deserved, reputation for a lot of things. At the same time, however, I’m not sure any other news outlet is doing a better job of holding politicians accountable for this mess.

And when I say politicians, I mean ALL politicians. Republicans. Democrats. Independents.

I have been on record in stark opposition to how ICE has suddenly become the government organization devoid of standard law and order. There’s no doubt that they need to be reigned in. But is there a way to do that without taking away funding from our federal workers? Is there a way we can meet the needs of the TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard and the other thousands of families that have gone without paychecks for over a month now?

Sure, President Trump’s executive order is a thoughtful (although legally questionable) sentiment. But that's not enough. It’s going to take all of our elected officials to fix this.

Evan Newton is the managing editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.