“You’re a United States Senator; sit down!” These words you would never expect to hear in the seats of American government, but those are the words Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) used to stop Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) from engaging in an altercation with a witness to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Now, physical altercations are nothing new to the seats of government. Senator Charles Sumner was beaten with a cane by pro-slavery Representative Preston Brooks in 1856. Heck, President Andrew Jackson beat an attempted assassin into a coma in 1835, and although Mullin cited past altercations in our seat of government as an excuse for his actions, violence in the halls of power is egregious.

Although Mullins’s outburst was the most notable Congressional event during the week, it unfortunately was not the only one. Earlier in the week, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) allegedly elbowed Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN) in the back and ran away. Burchett, who was one of eight Republicans that voted to oust McCarthy as speaker, chased after McCarthy, who denied the altercation occurred. The rise in physical violence and rash behavior on the part of our elected officials is attributed by many columnists to — prepare to sigh with contempt — the lack of non-weekend breaks over the past two months as the government wrestled with one issue after another.

Tensions are still high among Republicans after the vote to oust Kevin McCarthy a month ago highlighted the factional splits within the party. Although the election of Speaker Mike Johnson has allowed the House Republican Conference to present a somewhat united front, during the vote on Johnson’s stopgap bill to fund the government through mid-January and early February, several ideological differences between the conservatives and moderates came to light. Johnson pushed his bill over the finish line by relying on the votes of Democrats who were united in their support of the bill, unlike Johnson’s fellow Republicans, of which 95 voted against the bill.

Although the Republican divisions are more blatantly obvious, cracks have also made themselves apparent in the Democratic Caucus. The Democrats have struggled to find their stance on the very complex situation that is occurring in Gaza. Although more establishment Democrats have decided to maintain the precedent established by Harry Truman of supporting Israel, progressive Democrats like Representative Rashida Talib (D-MI), who has Palestinian roots, have taken a pro-Palestinian stance. The tensions between Democrats over this issue grow worse as the conflict becomes bloodier, with a direct sign of Democratic disunity occurring on the floor of the house as many Democrats crossed the floor to vote with Republican colleagues to censure Talib for chanting what many consider an antisemitic chant: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

The growing tensions between elected representatives in our seats of government have been great for comic relief. The Daily Show’s “Mortal Kongress” clip is good for a quick chuckle, but let us not forget that those are the people who legislate and make consequential decisions that can have long-term impacts on American lives. Indeed, tension is not always bad, and as the Democrats have shown, it is alright to disagree about issues so long as the debate is verbal. However, MMA Markwayne and Former Speaker McCarthy must understand that engaging or attempting to engage in physical violence is a dereliction of their duties as legislatures. To be a legislator means to have the ability to work out differences to fulfill the needs of the people, and adolescent behavior is unfit for the highest and most distinguished legislative body of the land.