Mad house How Donald Trump, MAGA mean girls, a former used car salesman, a Florida nepo baby, and a man with rats in his walls broke Congress

This juicy debut account depicts the 118th Congress as marred by petty feuds and humiliating scandals. New York Times congressional correspondents Karni and Broadwater report that Congress's "long-simmering dysfunction... reached its boiling point in 2023 and 2024," with many members privately concluding the legislative body, which passed "the smallest number of bills since the Great Depression," was "populated by a bunch of clowns." The journalists take a wry look at memorable moments and new lows, including Marjorie Taylor Greene "displaying blown-up naked photos of Hunter Biden engaging in sex acts" at a hearing and Mike Rogers being "physically restrained" during the chaotic vote that ushered in Speaker Kevin McCarthy (who later became the first Speaker deposed by his own party), as well as surreal scenes such as McCarthy organizing Trump's "Starburst candies for him," separating out "only his favored flavors." The book focuses mainly on House Republicans, who, with "the slimmest majority in history," descended into infighting (the authors spotlight McCarthy's rivalry with "problem child" Matt Gaetz, and "MAGA mean girls" Greene and Lauren Boebert's penchant for "fighting loudly" on the House floor). Democrats get second billing but don't escape Karni and Broadwater's incisive gaze--they're portrayed as resigned to the madness, with Chuck Schumer's final plea to Biden to step down presented as a singular moment of assertiveness. Political junkies will appreciate this gossipy peek behind the Beltway curtain. (Mar.)

A fly-on-the-wall view of the 118th Congress, "a dysfunctional legislative body populated by a bunch of clowns."New York Times politics reporters Karni and Broadwater, who cover Congress, paint a detailed picture of what one veteran Republican representative called a "shitshow." Few political leaders of any experience or maturity were much more complimentary: Liz Cheney remarked that "what we've done in our politics is create a situation where we're electing idiots," while legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, asked how Congress broke so irreparably, quoted Ernest Hemingway on how bankruptcy happens: "gradually, then suddenly." The gradual bit came about with the slow but immutable hardening of the right wing. All that was left then, when people such as Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert came rolling in, was for the "traditional" wing of the Republican Party to make concessions in the hope that it could retain power. Thus Kevin McCarthy's devil's bargain allowed a tiny fringe of the party--just 20 members--to dictate how the other 90 percent had to vote to please both themselves and Donald Trump. Gaetz, later much in the news for disgraceful reasons, "fed on conflict and, more quickly than any other Republican in office, took to Trump's brand of scorched-earth politics." He also edged McCarthy--by any measure one of the least capable persons to hold the job--out of his position as Speaker of the House, though none on the hard right were particularly pleased with the accommodationist who followed. Nancy Mace, George Santos, Jim Jordan, and many others come in for a drubbing, though Karni and Broadwater take time to review the endless series of Democratic Party mistakes that led to Joe Biden's running against Trump in 2024 for as long as he did before dropping out. Much more fun than the Mueller Report, but just as damning. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.