Lord of the Flies: Congress Devolves into Chaos as Elbows and Insults Fly

Bradley Jaye

Congressional tempers erupted Tuesday as members resorted to name-calling, alleged elbow throwing, and even an attempted committee brawl.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) began the elevation of tensions with her introduction of a privileged resolution to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas which was shot down on the House floor Monday night after eight Republicans crossed the aisle to join Democrats and send the bill to die in committee.
Rep. Darrell Issa, who voted to kill the resolution while bizarrely claiming he wants to serve as a witness against Mayorkas in any future impeachment hearing, told reporters this morning, “Marjorie Taylor Greene is a hard-working member of Congress, but I believe she lacks the maturity and the experience to understand what she was asking for.”

Greene quickly responded on X, suggesting that Issa lacked balls. She also replied with a short clip of Donald Trump from a rally years ago – in which Trump was referring to an attendee from the crowd who had commented on one of Trump’s rivals – saying “she said he’s a p****.”

While Issa and Green feuded, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) spoke to reporters in a Capitol Hill basement gaggle outside a House Republican conference meeting.

As Burchett addressed a reporter, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who Burchett voted to oust as Speaker last month, allegedly elbowed Burchett in the back in what Burchett later told CNN was “a clean shot to the kidneys.”

Multiple reporters saw the altercation.

“I chased after him,” Burchett said. “As I’ve stated many times, he’s a bully with $17 million and a security detail. He’s the type of guy who when you’re a kid would throw a rock over the fence and run home and hide behind his momma’s skirt.

“From behind, that kind of stuff, that’s not the way we handle things in East Tennessee.”

He continued, “As he always does, he just denies it or blames somebody else.”

McCarthy denied the interaction, telling CNN “I didn’t shove or elbow him. It’s a tight hallway.”

Burchett responded to McCarthy. “There’s 435 Congressmen, I was one of the eight who voted against him. That hallway, there’s plenty of room. you can walk four side by side. He chose to do what he did.

It’ll end right here; it’ll Just be a little asterisk on his storied career.”

Meanwhile in the upper chamber, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) addressed a witness, Sean O’Brien of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, regarding comments he previously made about Mullin, calling him a “clown” and a “fraud” who “pretends to be self-made.”

Mullin took over his father’s plumbing business in college when his father suffered an illness, growing the business and creating several other ventures. Mullin is one of the wealthier members of Congress.

“Quite the tough guy act in these Senate hearings,” O’Brien said. “You know where to find me, any place, any time, cowboy.”

“Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You wanna run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here,” Mullin said, before standing to fight.

Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gaveled the two down, restoring order — for the time being.

Follow Bradley Jaye on Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.

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