“I know our capacity to do basic legislation doesn’t really exist,” said Democrat Derek Kilmer, continuing up the stairs, then turning around to ask a reporter: “Do you exist?”
Existential uncertainty wafted through the hallways of the House on Wednesday. Members-elect and their staffers kept asking one another, “Do you know anything?” This was the first time in 100 years that the election of a speaker of the House went beyond a first ballot.
Greg Pence, the brother of the former vice president, walked into the House chamber before the start of a second day of voting for speaker, passing a sign that says “Members Only.” Though reelected in November and wearing an official congressional pin, Pence was not technically a member of Congress, because he had not been sworn in again.
