Congressional Mac maven is new majority leader

Just a few days ago we told you how the U.S. Senate rules had been opened up to allow Macs into Senate offices with official permission. Well, it turns out that Macs are quite popular in the House as well. Our example: the newly named House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). In the picture above, he is at his iMac-equipped desk calling President Obama about the confirmation of Rep. John Boehner as House Speaker.

A close look will also reveal Cantor's iPad in the black Apple case. According to his staff, the Congressman has had an iPad since the day it was released, and uses it quite a lot to read his hometown newspaper, the Richmond Times Dispatch (via the paper's app). Congressman Cantor has been a Mac user for many years, while his office is split between Macs and PCs based on the preference of the staff member.

With a loosening of the restrictions on Macs on the Senate side, and the increasing popularity of the iPad as a quick way to catch up on the news and deal with email, I'd look for more and more Apple products showing up on Capitol Hill -- even in such previously off-limits areas as the House floor.

Check the gallery below for some more pictures of Congressman Cantor using his favorite computer and tablet. Thanks to the congressman's staff for the pictures and detail for our story.