Zachary Florman
Communications Director
Rep. Laura Friedman
Want to meet a staffer who vibecoded an app in his spare time?
Oh, you should talk to Zachary Florman!
🔗 CNCT with Zachary about…
Vibecoding: Using today’s AI agents you can build that idea you never thought possible
Side projects: Talk to Zach about how to best take advantage of after-work time
Food:
Staying in? Zach can help you with a weekend project: Poor Man's Burnt Ends
Eating out? Zach recommends the Beef Noodles at Astoria
→ don’t even get him started on DC’s bagel scene!
Traveling Out West: Ask him about his trip to Colorado or his future plans to backpack on the West Coast.
Vibecoding for Capitol Hill
Six months ago, Zachary considered himself non-technical — and he'll still humbly tell you that today, which is what makes what he built that much more impressive.
It started with a simple problem from a colleague: a staffer in his office was tired of refreshing the House Clerk's website and the Majority Leader's page just to find out what was coming to the floor — so she asked if he could make something that does it automatically. Zachary gave it a shot and ended up with a project that went a lot further.
Now it scrapes the schedule every 60 seconds, uses AI to summarize what each bill does, and emails it out to subscribers. It also flags procedural moves that can sneak by when members and staff aren't looking. The whole thing is free too, you can check it out here.
❤️ Zachary’s Favorites
Coffee Spot: Dupont Coffee Collective
Bar: Aslin
Happy Hour: Pearl Dive
Lunch Spot: Pho Viet USA
TV Show: For All Mankind
Movie: Interstellar
If Zachary Florman's name sounds familiar, that's no accident. Whether you caught Roll Call's article on his new app, Capitol Wire, or heard about it through a friend asking if you'd seen the staffer behind the new votes tracking tool — chances are, his name has come up lately.
Zachary got his start as a District Press Secretary for Congressman Josh Gottheimer in New Jersey, just trying to get his foot in the door. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do in politics yet, but fell in love with comms work — eventually moving to D.C. as Press Secretary, and things took off from there. Today, he's the Communications Director for Rep. Laura Friedman, building a new communications operation from the ground up and navigating the massive Los Angeles media market.
His Backstory
🏠 Hometown: Englewood, NJ
🎓 Colleges & Majors: Skidmore College (International Affairs)
💭 Favorite Hill Memory: “My absolute favorite memories are when my family comes down from New Jersey to visit. There is nothing quite like being able to take them right onto the House floor. It’s a constant reminder of what a unique privilege it is to work here, and it makes all the long hours completely worth it.”
Zachary’s Capitol Corner
🥪 Cafeteria Order: "The soups! Usually, a chicken noodle."
📝 Best Out-of-Office Workplace: “Aslin Beer Garden - during the day it’s a coffee shop and it's got outlets, tables, and shade while still being outside.”
👔 Hill Closet, Sponsored by: Charles Tyrwhitt
💎 Hidden Gem: “Martha Dear in Mount Pleasant - not a secret, but it doesn’t get the attention it deserves.”
🖥️ Hill Holy Grail: “If you don’t have a second monitor, are you even trying?”
One More Thing
The reason Zachary’s work ethic and creativity stands out is because of the mindset behind it:
“The most impactful advice I’ve received is that no one will simply hand you the opportunity you want, and if you want to move up, you have to start doing the work of the next job before you ever hold the title. You have to dive in, try to succeed, learn from those around you, and build the solutions that actually drive results. Ultimately, you don't wait for someone to ask you to do something; you try to be ahead of the ask.”
📚 Zachary’s Reading List
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Silo Series by Hugh Howey - 10x better than the TV show
Smart Brevity by Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei, and Roy Schwartz - “had to give one non sci-fi answer”
Connect with Zachary: “I love meeting people who are trying to build things or make the Hill work better. I'm always down to grab a coffee, talk through ideas, and just connect.”
Advice to Young Staffers
“When interviewing for a job, always try to find a differentiator that shows you did the extra work. Remember small but important facts about the Member, find local businesses they’ve visited, and come to the interview with a real plan of what you want to do in the role. Print out that plan, bring it in physically, and offer to leave it with the person interviewing.”