After days of deliberations and 15—yes, 15—rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy may have gotten his prize, but Katie Porter won the day without saying a word. Suddenly she’s been catapulted to social media fame thanks to a viral photograph.
Chaos is a good word to describe the complete fiasco of a congressional session that took place last week. McCarthy had been wheeling and dealing well before the caucus, and he seemed to think recognizing him as Speaker of the House was merely a formality. Not so fast. As the arguing and the repeated voting stretched on, House Republicans’ patience wore thin. The controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz, who had been one of McCarthy’s most staunch critics ahead of the session, had a heated exchange with the would-be Speaker until apparently he made Gaetz an offer he couldn’t refuse.