I had one different and one similar experience so far, and one very confusing conversation that I could use some help on.
1) received senatorial nom just before Christmas. Just a letter in the mail congratulating me on receiving his nomination. It was incredibly surprising as I thought I'd blown my interview. HUGE sigh of relief. Did show up in my portal, but didn't see it until after I received the letter because I hadn't checked there that week so don't know the timing.
2) noticed last Wed. on the portal that it showed my congressman's nomination received. Hadn't received any mail or call prior. Luckily I'd looked that morning, because at lunch the congressman called me from DC to congratulate me personally! That night the letter was awaiting me at home.
3) Now for the confusing part... when I talked to the congressman, I KNOW he said "congratulations on your appointment to the USNA. I'm excited to see where you go over the next 4.5 years" I thanked him greatly for the nomination, but after I hung up thought wait a minute... he said appointment. Not sure if I mis-heard, he mis-spoke, or he did say it and it's correct but not in the system yet... Portal still says "pending review" status. I've seen some threads that say they occasionally let the congressman know first in case they want to congratulate the appointees, I've seen others that say they never do that. Don't know what to think, other than that the anticipation is driving me wild. With the shutdown are the updates possibly lagging? Any thoughts / similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. I feel totally honored to have gotten this far, just wish (as we all do) that I knew for sure. Thanks