Jeffries and Lawler clash as shutdown tensions explode on Capitol Hill

The National Hockey League played seven games in its 2025-2026 junior season at the end of the day last Wednesday. The competitions consisted of two fights in total.

By the end of that Wednesday, the government shutdown had lasted eight days. And now the prolonged shutdown has sparked two extraordinary verbal fights between lawmakers in the halls of Congress.

NHL referees Gord Dwyer and Mitch Dunning worked the Washington Capitals/Boston Bruins game in DC on Wednesday night. Maybe the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms could have summoned Dwyer and Dunning to Capitol Hill to pre-empt a few tens of minutes of abuse.

“You’re embarrassing yourself right now!” shouted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DY, Rep. Mike Lawler, DY.

JOHNSON INCREASED GOVERNMENT’S RISKS TOWARD SCHUMER WITH AIM TO CLOSE IT DOWN IN WEEK 3

“The only thing to be ashamed of here is you!” Lawler roared at Jeffries.

Anger erupted as Lawler waited outside the House Radio/TV Gallery Studio after Jeffries had finished his now-daily press conference.

“You won’t talk to me and you won’t talk about me when you don’t want to hear what I have to say!” Jeffries shouted animatedly at Lawler, wagging his index finger at his colleague’s chest but never poking him.

“Oh, I’m listening,” Lawler said.

“So keep your mouth shut!” shouted the usually cool Jeffries.

There were many verbal fights between members and Congress leaders.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., called the press into the hallway outside the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to complain about the shutdown and criticize the Speaker for not swearing in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., more than two weeks after she was elected. Johnson then confronted Arizona senators. And Lawler was nearby, serving as the “fourth man.”

“This is ridiculous,” an exasperated Johnson shouted.

SCREAMING MATCH BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES AND MIKE LAWLER IS AIRING AS THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

“This is the longest the Dynasty has gone…” Gallego interrupted.

“Do you want me to answer the question?” He shot Johnson back.

“You’re not actually answering the question,” Gallego countered.

The numerous fights between lawmakers in the halls were almost unprecedented in Congress. The lockdowns included discussions about health care. Lawler waved legislation focused on Democrats’ push during the shutdown: a package that would extend Obamacare subsidies.

“If you believe so much!” He berated Lawler with a rhetorical uppercut.

“Brother, do you understand mathematics?” He counter-punched Jeffries.

Tensions are rising in the Capitol. Yours truly asked Johnson about Lawler’s confrontation with Jeffries and his decision to leave the Speaker’s office to meet with Kelly and Gallego. I told the Speaker of the Parliament that if the Parliament was in session, there might be fist fights in the corridors.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on the tenth day of the federal government shutdown on October 10, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)

“Are you concerned and is it your responsibility as Speaker of the House to try to lower the temperature?” I asked.

Johnson added that what happened “concerns me.” He added that he wanted to “restore civility to the institution.”

“Let’s have policy discussions. But don’t make it personal. This gets personal. Emotions are high. People are upset. I’m sorry. I’m a very patient man. But I’m very angry right now because this is a dangerous thing. So is it better for them to be physically separated right now? It probably is.” said Johnson.

It’s not just MPs who are angry. Thousands of federal workers are angry over the shutdown. The administration is now firing federal workers.

“Many families right now are paying the price for political stalemate they did not cause,” said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Public Employees.

THE TENSION BETWEEN THE HOUSE SPEAKERS AND THE SENATE DEMS WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA AS A RESULT OF THE CLOSING.

Rep. Sarah Elfreth, D-Md., represents 44,000 federal workers in her district near Washington, D.C. It notes that Maryland has lost 15,000 federal jobs since President Trump took office in January.

“I believe the layoffs were not only unethical and immoral, but also illegal if there were individuals who RIFed during the shutdown. No new authority was given to the President or OMB during the shutdown,” Elfreth said. “I don’t believe in negotiating through threats. It also shows that I think they have a weaker hand and they are losing the national public relations war by resorting to threats.”

While the main event is the shutout, the undercard is a fight between Democrats and Johnson over Grijalva to replace his late father, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz. The elder Grijalva died in March after a battle with cancer.

“I can’t hire staff. We don’t have an office,” Grijalva said. “So it feels like a second-class citizen to me.”

Democrats tried multiple times to force the House to swear in Grijalva during brief, pro forma sessions where the body was in and out after a few seconds. Once in office, Grijalva would go on to sign the 218th bill, which would go over the Speaker of the House and force the House to vote on a measure to release the Epstein files.

“Let your people in and stop covering up pedophilia,Gallego shouted at Johnson during their confrontation in the hallway.

“That’s ridiculous,” Johnson responded.

“There’s no one to cover up pedophiles,” Lawler chirped from the back of the group. “Then stop it.”

Johnson denies the Grijalva robbery was related to the Epstein files.

Speaker Mike Johnson is canceling House votes for the third week in a row in an effort to put pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during the government shutdown. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite; Allison Robbert/AP Photo)

“I think we’ll schedule it when he wants to. It has nothing to do with that,” Johnson said.

However, Grijalva wrote a letter to the Speaker of the Parliament last week, demanding that the House swear him in immediately. And the Parliament still hasn’t sworn in for him.

Circumstances were different this spring when the House GOP majority fell to a clear seat. The Big, Beautiful Bill needed as many votes as Republicans could muster to pass parliamentary frameworks. A day after Johnson won the special election, House Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla. and Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., were sworn in.

“These guys have worked hard and deserve this position,” Johnson said when he met with them in April. “These gentlemen will come in and help us implement the America First agenda.”

The swearing in of Fine and Patronis makes “the margin a little bit more comfortable” for House Republicans, Johnson said.

That’s why Johnson is keeping the House of Representatives out of session for now. House Democrats return to Capitol Hill this week to highlight Johnson’s decision to keep the House out of session during the shutdown. Regardless, sending everyone back to the Capitol would likely trigger the equivalent of a line fight in Congress.

There are unwritten rules regarding hockey fights. You can’t punch someone. You don’t kneel to your opponent. You usually fight with someone from the same weight class. In hockey, both sides warm up on their side of the red line before the game and during halftime. Violating this rule can trigger a huge fight.

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Lawmakers from both parties appear to have abandoned their side of the field to fight with the other side. Gallego and Kelly outside the Speaker’s Office. Lawler outside Jeffries’ press conference.

However, lawmakers appear to be ignoring these unwritten rules. The government shutdown is soon entering its third week and everyone is dropping the gloves.