The episode features Senators Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, who would later run against each other to be the Democratic nominee for President in 2020. Both lost the nomination to the eventual winner of the election, Vice President Joe Biden, who has also appeared on the show.
The title "Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington" is a take on the season 5 opener Ms. Knope Goes to Washington (2012), which itself is a play on the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).
Ben mentions in the cold open a 2017 Twin Peaks reboot, perhaps referring to the 2016 Twin Peaks revival in Twin Peaks (2017).