Congress leaders face a battle on the rise lowering political temperature after Kirk’s murder

There is no thermostat at the American Capitol.

Only thermometers.

And that is why the leaders of the congress find it difficult to reduce temperatures at Congress after the murder of Charlie Kirk.

As a veteran journalist in Congress, I lost the account of the number of efforts I attended to try to “lower the temperature” around Capitol Hill after a national tragedy.

Oh, they could bring down a mercury diploma for a few weeks here and there – sometimes helped by a political cold front (for example, a long recreation from the congress). But as in meteorology, political winds blow. Meteorological systems are developing. There are hollows in the jet flow. The droughts are wrapped in the political landscape. Alberta Clippers takes place in November and December. All this results in inevitable degerations. So, after a little comfort, it is generally not long time until a category 5 hurricane takes place off the Côte de Capitol Hill.

Kash Patel faces grills at home after the clashes of the tense Senate on the assassination of Kirk

Charlie Kirk attended the Tpusa event in Arizona in 2024. (Rebecca Noble / AFP via Getty Images)

The temperature then rises.

In meteorology, there are always temperature “standards”. Yes, it is seasonal to climb in the mid -90s in Washington, DC, in August. But not unknown to have high temperatures in the mid -1970s like this year. These are anomalies.

The same with Congress. The typical “seasonal” temperature on Capitol Hill still increases to 100 degrees. Even during the freezing calendar days of January and February.

Namely: there were noisy episodes on Capitol Hill in the mid -1990s after the Republicans seized the control of the house, which almost transformed into fist fights. A national tragedy has not stimulated counter-lresses. It was electoral. This has fueled visceral mistrust between Republicans and Democrats. It was increased by the fact that the Republicans obtained control of the Chamber in 1994 for the first time in four decades.

The results of the ballot boxes triggered these skirmishes. But it was violence and calamity that have fueled many Capitol Hill embers.

The members sought to calm things down after two Capitol police officers were shot in 1998.

But the temperature went up.

The same thing with September 11. The fourth plane that finally crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, was intended for the American Capitol. After the immediate threat calmed down, bipartite members gathered on the Capitol steps and spontaneously sang “God inje America”.

This moment appeared as an indelible moment and edifying the most horrible days in American history.

The team member gives a frank response when he asked why the DEMS celebrate political violence after Kirk’s death

Candles and flowers are seen near a portrait of right -wing activist Charlie Kirk during a fortune memorial during a candle vigil at the Memorial Park in Provo, Utah, on September 12, 2025. (Melissa Majchrzak / AFP via Getty Images)

But the temperature went up.

Tea Party demonstrators surrounded the Capitol in 2010 while the Democrats were trying to pass Obamacare. Telephone calls and vile threats flooded the Congress telephone lines. The legislators called for calm in order to calm the vitriol.

But the temperature went up.

A shooter killed six people and seriously injured the former representative Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., And the future representative Ron Barber, D-Ariz., In 2011.

The members recalled rhetoric.

But the temperature went up.

The Capitol police were injured during a high -speed prosecution around the Congress complex when the 2013 government closed. The legislators again demanded calm. In fact, the legislators found the injury of the police who work to protect them – but not receiving a pay check – so sobbing that it encouraged them to reopen the government.

But the temperature went up.

An armed man shot the majority of the head of the Steve scaalise house, R-La., During a Congress baseball practice in 2017, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Ted Cruz says that the speech of hatred “absolutely” protected by the first amendment after the assassination of Charlie Kirk

The whip of the minority of Maison Steve Scalizes, R-La., Was almost murdered by a left shooter during a team session before a congress baseball match. (AP)

People have detained themselves.

But the temperature went up.

On January 6, 2021, Riot Au Capitole was one of the most expensive days in the history of the congress. The leaders again insisted on peace.

However, there was almost a fight at the back of the room shortly after the house met after the chaos in the hours of January 7.

Again, requests came to find out what.

But the temperature went up.

The president of the Mike Johnson room, R-La., Is the last chief of the congress to face the arduous task of reducing the temperature after Kirk’s assassination. The members of the room bowed in a moment of silence. When Johnson hit the hammer, representative Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Asked Johnson a verbal prayer. She said that silent prayer had not obtained results.

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Representative Lauren Boebert speaks with journalists as she leaves the American Capitol for the weekend on May 17, 2024 in Washington, DC (Images Kevin Dietsch / Getty)

“Is there someone who could lead us in a moment of prayer aloud for Charlie and his family?” Asked Boebert as Johnson was trying to lower the room.

She also mentioned the “victims of Colorado”, referring to a shooting in a high school in Colorado the same day.

The grunts and groans filled the room while Boebert was trying to speak.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” said Johnson from the platform. “The house will be in order.”

Johnson tried to calm the shots and come through the aisle.

“The house will be in order!” Hailed Johnson when the Din rose in the room.

The representative Anna Paulina Luna, r-fla., And the representative Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., Continuation of screaming.

“The house will be in order!” Hit an angry Johnson.

The speaker slammed the hammer and looked at the daggers towards the democratic side of the room.

The republicans of the house honor Charlie Kirk while

President of the Mike Johnson room, R-La., Expresses himself during a commemorative and prayer vigil for Charlie Kirk at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, Sunday September 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

You see the model.

It is apparently always the same on Capitol Hill. The model never seems to change. Yes, you can have days in the 70s during August dog days in Washington. But the temperature finally returns to the upper 90s. This is the political standard on Capitol Hill.

The question is: “Will it ever change?”

It is difficult to see things “change”. If they were going to “change”, this would probably have occurred after September 11, the attack by Giffords, baseball training in shooting or January 6. All part of these disasters could have served as a momentum to “change” things on Capitol Hill.

You might think. But there was no change in the political climate.

This is partly because there was so much turnover in the members of Capitol Hill. Even since January 6, the Congress has experienced an amazing turnover. Twenty-seven members of the Chamber are now ready to retire at the end of this quarter. The usual number at this cycle is 16 years old. So anyone who was here for these requests for calm after Kirk’s shooting will probably not be there when there is the next cataclysm. Many people who may have helped calm things after Giffords or September 11 are no longer there. This strengthens volatility.

There is now a high level of mistrust between legislators. And the toxicity of social media does not help.

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There is no regulator on Capitol Hill. But legislators can individually serve as thermostat. And if they fix their own internal temperature, mercury can drop. They could create their own cold front of the congress.

But how long is the question?

You already know the answer to this.