‘American Idol’ star, lawmakers attending WHCA dinner

Former “American Idol” contestant Katharine McPhee and two members of Congress from both sides of the aisle will be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner as guests of Fox News Channel host Greta Van Susteren.

Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) and Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) will join the star of NBC’s now-defunct musical series, “Smash,” at the May 3 festivities, ITK has confirmed. The news was first reported by U.S. News and World Report.

{mosads}Both lawmakers have been frequent guests on Van Susteren’s show, “On the Record.”

The choice of McPhee is rather tame compared to some of Van Susteren’s past tablemates. Van Susteren and her husband, John Coale, have a history of hosting some eyebrow-raising guests at the annual celeb-infested soiree, including Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, and Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Word is there’s a possibility additional guests could be added to Van Susteren’s list. 

Van Susteren is returning to the dinner after “taking a pass” in 2013. “I made another commitment out of town that weekend,” she told ITK last year.

But this time around, Van Susteren tells us, “I am looking forward to the dinner. It is the one night a year that we journalists don’t take ourselves so seriously.”