Jeffries and Lawler clash as shutdown tensions explode on Capitol Hill

The National Hockey League played seven games in its young 2025-2026 season by the end of last Wednesday. The competitions included a total of two fights.

The government shutdown lasted for eight days by the end of that Wednesday. The extended shutdown has now sparked unusual verbal altercations in the halls of Congress between lawmakers.

NHL referees Gord Dwyer and Mitch Dunning worked out the Washington Capitals/Boston Bruins tilt Wednesday night in DC. Perhaps the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms could have summoned Dwyer and Dunning to Capitol Hill to hand out some ten minutes of misconduct beforehand.

“You’re embarrassing yourself now!” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., shouted at Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.

Johnson raises his stakes on Schumer as the government closes the barrels in the third week

“The only thing wrong here is you!” Lawler thundered at Jefferies.

Nerves ran wild as Lawler waited outside the House Radio/TV Gallery Studio to close after Jeffries concluded his now daily press conference.

“You won’t talk to me and talk to me when you don’t want to hear what I have to say!” Jeffries shouted, moving in Lawler’s face, pointing his index finger at his teammate’s chest but never jabbing him.

“Oh, I’m listening,” Lawler said.

“So just keep your mouth shut!” exclaimed the usually genial Jeffries.

There were multiple rounds of vocal altercations between members and Congress leaders.

Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., summoned the press into the hallway outside the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Ariz., to complain about the shutdown and criticize the Speaker of the House for Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., not performing more than two weeks after her election. Johnson then faced the Arizona Senators. Lawler was nearby, acting as the “fourth man.”

“This is ridiculous,” an exasperated Johnson fumed.

A shouting match broke out between Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Lawler as the government shutdown chaos continued

“This is the longest the House has taken…” Gallego interrupted.

“Do you want me to answer the question?” Johnson replied.

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

Multiple rounds of hall brawls between lawmakers were almost unprecedented in Congress. The snap closures included arguments about health care. Lawler waved around the legislation focusing on the Democrats’ campaign during the shutdown: a package to expand Obamacare subsidies.

“If you believe in him so much!” Lawler rebuked rhetorically.

“Brother, do you understand mathematics?” Jeffries counter punches.

Tensions are rising in the Capitol. I actually asked Johnson about Lawler facing Jeffries and his decision to step out of the speaker’s office to get Kelly and Gallego involved. I mentioned to the Speaker that if the House was in session, there might be a fistfight in the aisles.

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

“Are you worried and as president should you be trying to bring down this temperature?” I asked.

Johnson added that the unfortunate events “concern me.” He added that he wanted to “restore civility to the institution.”

“Let’s have political disagreements. But don’t make it personal. This gets personal. Emotions are high. People are upset. I’m upset. I’m a very patient man. But I’m very angry now because this is serious. Would it be better for them to be physically separated now? Maybe it is.” Johnson said.

Lawmakers aren’t the only ones angry. Thousands of federal workers are angry about the shutdown. The administration is now firing federal employees.

“Right now, too many families are paying the price for political gridlock they did not cause,” said Everett Kelly, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

A tense standoff between the Speaker of the House and Senate Democrats was caught on camera due to the shutdown

Rep. Sarah Elfreth, Democrat of Maryland, represents 44,000 federal employees 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 think (the firings) are not only unethical and unethical, but they are also illegal for him to be a member of the RIF during a shutdown. There is no new authority given to the president or the Office of Management and Budget during a shutdown,” Elfreth said. “I don’t believe in negotiating by threats. This also shows that I think they have the weaker hand and that they are losing the PR battle at the national level to resort to threats.”

While the closing is the main event, the undercard is a battle between Democrats and Johnson over the succession of her late father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz. The elder Grijalva died in March after a battle with cancer.

“I can’t hire employees. We don’t have an office. So I feel like a second-class citizen,” Grijalva said.

Democrats have tried on multiple occasions to force the House to swear in Grijalva during short formal sessions in which the body steps in and takes the gavel out after just a few seconds. Once in office, Grijalva will submit the crucial 218th signature to pass over the Speaker of the House and force the House to vote on a measure to release the Epstein files.

“Get your people in and stop covering up for pedophiles,Gallego shouted at Johnson as they confronted him in the hallway.

“That’s ridiculous,” Johnson replied.

“No one covers up for pedophiles,” Lawler chirped from the back of the concert. “So beat the hell out of her.”

Johnson denies that Grijalva’s detention is related to the Epstein files.

House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled a House vote for the third week in a row in an attempt to pressure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during the government shutdown. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite; Allison Robert/AP Photo)

“I think we’ll schedule that as soon as you want. It has nothing to do with it,” Johnson said.

But Grijalva wrote to the Speaker of parliament last week demanding that she be sworn in immediately. The House of Representatives has not yet administered the constitutional oath to her.

Circumstances were different this spring when the GOP majority in the House of Representatives dwindled to one seat. Republicans needed as many votes as possible to pass the parliamentary frameworks for the big, beautiful bill. Johnson was sworn in by Representatives Randy Fine, Republican of Florida, and Jimmy Patronis, Republican of Florida, a day after they won the special election.

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

Johnson noted that Fine and Patronis’ swearing-in made the “margin a little more comfortable” for House Republicans.

So Johnson is keeping the House out of session for now. House Democrats return to Capitol Hill this week to confirm that Johnson will keep the chamber out of session during the shutdown. Regardless, sending everyone back to the Capitol would likely lead to the equivalent of a brawl in the ranks of Congress.

There are unwritten rules about hockey fights. You don’t hit someone. You don’t kneel your opponent. Typically, you face off in a fight with someone in the same weight class as you. In hockey, both sides warm up on their side of the red line before the game and between periods. Violation of this code may result in a major quarrel.

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Lawmakers on both sides appear to have left their own side of the rink to pick fights with the other side. Gallego and Kelly outside the speaker’s office. Lawler outside of Jeffries’ press conference.

But lawmakers seem to be ignoring these unwritten rules. Soon the government shutdown enters its third week and everyone drops their gloves.