Rise of violence between lawmakers alarms historian

Republican lawmakers headed into Thanksgiving break needing to cool off after a series of Capitol Hill skirmishes.

It's not unusual for members of Congress to argue and yell — and former House speaker John Boehner claimed that the late Rep. Don Young (R-AK) once held a knife to his throat during a heated debate — but recent drama feels different in the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021, an expert told Politico.

"The fact that we're seeing this sort of thing happen twice in one day is a reminder that we don't necessarily live in a time of normal politics," said Joanne Freeman, a Yale history professor and author of "The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War."

The newly seated Congress kicked off 2023 with a bruising battle to elect Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House speaker — and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) had to be physically restrained by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) to prevent him from attacking Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) during the votes.

"I won't forget this!" Rogers could be heard shouting on the House floor.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) reportedly confronted Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) in a Capitol bathroom during McCarthy's battle for the speaker gavel, and the pair have feuded over efforts to impeach President Joe Biden in private and on the House floor, with Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) saying "a fistfight could break out at any moment" between them.

"She has genuinely been a nasty little b---h to me," Greene told a reporter, and Boebert later declined to comment, saying, "I'm not in middle school."

The House Freedom Caucus kicked Greene out of the ultra-conservative group partly in response, and the two women have bickered ever since, with the Georgia Republican mocking reports of Boebert acting lewdly at a Colorado theater with her date.

The battles flowed over into the Senate earlier this month, when Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) challenged Teamsters president Sean O'Brien to a fight during a hearing following months of trading barbs in person and online, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stepped in to break them up.

"You're a United States Senator," Sanders reminded Mullin, who had previously been a MMA fighter. "We're not here to talk about fights."

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Burchett ended up involved in a physical confrontation nearly two weeks ago, when he said McCarthy elbowed him in the kidney as he walked past in a House hallway, the same day as Mullins challenged O'Brien.

"Why'd you elbow me in the back, Kevin?" Burchett said, chasing him down the corridor in front of reporters. "Hey Kevin, you got any guts?"

McCarthy denied intentionally hitting Burchett, who was one of eight Republicans who voted to oust him as speaker, but claimed the hallway was narrow.

"If I hit somebody, they would know it," McCarthy said. "If I kidney punched someone, they would be on the ground."