Plenty of political firsts and historic events marked the year 2023 in Washington.
Republicans won back the House with a slim majority in January that commenced a marathon 15 rounds of voting for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to win the speaker’s gavel. The power, however, was short-lived when, on Oct. 3, he became the first House speaker ousted on a motion to vacate brought by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
FREEDOM CAUCUS WARNS GOP LEADERSHIP AGAINST ‘SHADY SIDE DEALS’ AS CONGRESS RETURNS TO SPENDING FIGHT
McCarthy’s removal ignited a frenzy to find a replacement, and after a three-week impasse and numerous failed nominations, House Republicans settled on little-known Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) to lead the unwieldy caucus. Among Johnson’s first moves was ramping up the pressure on President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who this year became the first child of a sitting president to be indicted on federal criminal charges.
The initial indictment came in Delaware on alleged gun violations and a second in California on tax fraud charges. House Republicans voted to open an impeachment inquiry into the president on Dec. 13. It was the same day the younger Biden defied a congressional subpoena and instead held a press conference outside the Capitol, saying his father was not financially involved with his overseas business ventures that have become the centerpiece of the investigation.
Former President Donald Trump dominated headlines in 2023 when he was hit with 91 felony charges across four criminal cases but still managed to be the runaway front-runner for the GOP primary nomination over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Health and vitality questions about sitting politicians were a persistent storyline throughout the year, from an 81-year-old Biden’s quest for a second White House term to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) public freeze-ups in the aftermath of his recovery from a concussion.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) entered the Senate in January after surviving a near-fatal stroke that left him struggling to communicate. Then in February, Fetterman took a novel 44-day public leave of absence for in-patient hospitalization for severe depression. Ailing Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, faced increasing pressure to resign from the Senate until the trailblazing California Democrat died in office on Sept. 29.
The year ended on a tragic note after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that resulted in 1,200 deaths and about 240 hostages being taken. Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza to end Hamas has killed more than 21,000 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry. The Hamas-Israel war exposed a deep divide among Democrats over how far the United States should support Israel. The war also became enmeshed in an ongoing political fight in Congress over an aid bill to tie border security to billions in assistance to Israel and Ukraine as the latter seeks to fend off Russia’s invasion.
The House capped its year with three censures of Democratic lawmakers, the most since 1870. Also, Republicans moved to expel one of their own members, New York GOP Rep. George Santos. With a bipartisan vote, the indicted freshman congressman was removed from office on Dec. 1 over a rash of campaign finance, ethics, and fraud allegations.
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Here’s a look at the 2023 photos of the year captured by Washington Examiner photographer Graeme Jennings.
