Friday night on the House floor was a spectacle to behold.Friday night on the House floor was a spectacle to behold.
Even for career-long observers of Congress, Friday night on the House floor was a sight to behold.
The chamber descended into chaos when two lawmakers nearly came to fisticuffs — the frustration of four long days of failing to elect a speaker boiling over. And that was just part of the drama.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) lunged at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and had to be pulled away by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.). It happened after Gaetz blocked Kevin McCarthy from clinching the final vote to be elected speaker in the fourteenth round of voting — and after the rabble rouser signaled he was ready to back down and let everyone finally go home.
Across the chamber, Democratic Reps. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) could be heard shouting “Be civil!”, according to a member who heard the exchange.
Several GOP members said they believed the animosity between Rogers and Gaetz reached a boiling point over talk that GOP leadership might offer Gaetz the chairmanship of a House Armed Services subcommittee. Rogers, who is set to lead that panel, had grown increasingly angry at the holdouts during the week, and he had initially threatened to try to strip anti-McCarthy members of committee assignments.
