Congress really is just like high school

Fight! Fight! Fight!

(This show rocked)

Three things happened in Congress on Tuesday that should embarrass us all.

1. Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee said that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy purposely elbowed him in the kidney in a narrow hallway. McCarthy responded that “if I hit somebody, they would know it. If I kidney punched someone, they would be on the ground.” Ahem.

2. Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin challenged a labor leader to a fight during a Senate hearing. “Sir, this is a time; this is a place,” said Mullin. “You want to run your mouth? We can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here.” Mullin rose from his chair before being stopped by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was chairing the hearing.

3. Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer called Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz a “smurf” (Moskowitz was wearing a blue suit) after the Florida Congressman raised the issue of a loan Comer had given to his brother.

Reminder: This ALL happened in a single day.

Most people who follow the Congress closely chalked it up to the fact that members had been in town for an extended period of time — and that tensions had just boiled over.

As the Washington Post noted of the incidents:

The breakdowns in decorum came as lawmakers were laboring to avoid a government shutdown and make sure they can leave town ahead of an anticipated Thanksgiving break. The House in particular has been in session for 10 straight weeks, a stretch that has featured an unprecedented removal of the speaker — McCarthy — and a contentious election among Republicans to replace him that exposed deep rifts within the party.

Which I get! But this is far from the first time we’ve seen this sort of immaturity in this Congress — and particularly among Republicans.

There is the long-running feud between Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, for one.

Greene called Boebert a “little bitch” and accused her of copying her own legislation that would impeach President Biden. Boebert refused to engage, insisting “I’m not in middle school.”

And, during the first Speaker votes of the year, Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican, had to be restrained by his colleagues from going after Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.

There’s a tendency, of course, to think that our current moment is the worst (or the best) ever. It’s rarely the case.

As the New Republic noted:

In the three decades before the Civil War, members of the House and Senate routinely threatened each other with violence, and often acted on it too. They brawled on the House floor; they faced off in duels; they fired shots in Congress. They beat each another senseless with canes. All told, members of Congress engaged in at least 80 acts of physical violence between 1830 and 1860,

So, yeah. We aren’t there.

But I DO think there is something going on here that’s worth noting — especially within the Republican party.

This is a party that is literally coming apart at the seams. The old guard watched helplessly as Donald Trump engaged in a hostile takeover of the party in 2016. And Trump’s rise has inspired a slew of copycats — politicians who focus more on feuding with rivals (even or especially those within their own ranks) than they do on legislating.

The party is in the midst of an identity crisis — one that we are seeing play out in the 2024 Republican primary race.

On one side are what we would deem traditional conservatives — Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Tim Scott — who are running as though the basic rules that had long governed what it meant to be a Republican are still in place.

On the other are Trump and his clones — Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis — who have thrown out the GOP playbook (and policies) and are refashioning the party along a more populist and protectionist track.

And you know who is winning that fight.

I see the influence of Trump in another way here too. Remember that this is a man who prides himself on being a tough guy. Trump has urged police to handle protesters roughly. He has said he would punch Biden in the face. He revels in bravado and bullying.

That has a trickle-down effect. Politicians are copy-cats — they see what works and then try to mimic it.

Just look at how Markwayne Mullin defended his actions during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity last night (and how Hannity helped!). Here’s how the Daily Oklahoman newspaper reported on the exchange:

"He called you out," Hannity said. "You called him out for calling you out. And that's kind of old school, the way it used to be."

Mullin said he had been asked afterward if his conduct was in line with a United States Senator, but he responded that he's "a guy from Oklahoma first." He also said that the issue is "political correctness," and that "the left can say whatever they want."

"In Oklahoma, you don't do this," Mullin said of O'Brien's social media posts. "Maybe you run your mouth in New Jersey, I don't know ... I'm sure not going to sit back and let somebody do that and not call them out on it."

Mullin said he believes O'Brien never expected Mullin to "answer the call," and that people need to be "called out on what they say."

"What did people want me to do? If I didn't do that, people in Oklahoma would be pretty upset at me," Mullin said. "That's how we were raised, I'm supposed to represent Oklahoma values."

Not only does Mullin not view the near-fight as a negative, he seems to think that it will endear him to his constituents in Oklahoma! “Old school”!

Is this the worst its ever been? No. No one is being caned on the floors of Congress. But are we in a unique moment in which we are seeing the tensions and pressures of a party being forcibly remade play out in public (and in Congress)? You bet.