Let’s get this out of the way: if you came to Mad House looking for subtlety, you’ve got the wrong title. That subtitle alone—How Donald Trump, MAGA Mean Girls, a Former Used Car Salesman, a Florida Nepo Baby, and a Man with Rats in His Walls Broke Congress—tells you almost everything you need to know about the tone. It’s bold, biting, and not particularly interested in decorum.
But here’s the kicker: behind the absurdity lies a well-reported, deeply unsettling chronicle of how the United States House of Representatives descended into dysfunction—not just once, but repeatedly. Mad House is less a political tell-all and more a field report from inside the crater of an imploding institution. It’s an autopsy on accountability, and the results are grim.
Who’s Behind It?
Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater are not firebrand columnists or partisan bomb-throwers. They’re veteran congressional reporters—Karni with The New York Times, Broadwater with The Washington Post—and it shows. Their tone, despite the outrageous cast of characters, remains measured, precise, and grounded in fact. What makes Mad House so effective is that it never needs to embellish. The reality is absurd enough.
What’s It About?
At its core, Mad House is a study in collapse. It covers the post-2020 era in the U.S. House of Representatives, focusing especially on the Republican caucus as it becomes increasingly ungovernable. The book starts in the aftermath of January 6 and follows the chaotic trajectory through Kevin McCarthy’s speakership (and eventual ousting), the rise of figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and Lauren Boebert, and the broader breakdown of institutional norms that once held Congress together—even in times of division.
There are villains and fools. But the real tragedy lies in how little gets done while America burns. The “madness” isn’t just the personalities. It’s the paralysis.
Cast of Characters: Dysfunction as Theater
It’s tempting to call the book a dark comedy. There are laugh-out-loud moments—if only because they’re real and terrifying.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene is portrayed not just as a conspiracy theorist but as a savvy operator who understands the power of spectacle and uses it to dominate headlines and steer the conversation.
• Matt Gaetz comes off as a chaotic opportunist—equal parts troll and tactician—willing to wreck his own party to burnish his personal brand.
• Kevin McCarthy is perhaps the most tragic figure, a man so desperate to wear the crown that he hands out every piece of leverage to get it—and has none left to govern once he does.
• George Santos—yes, the guy with the mystery past and the alleged financial fraud—gets an entire chapter that reads like an episode of Veep rewritten by Kafka.
And yet, Karni and Broadwater resist caricature. They let these figures speak in their own words, often quoting directly from speeches, interviews, and leaked recordings. The effect is chilling. These aren’t cartoons. These are real people with legislative power.
A Broken Process, Not Just Broken People
What elevates Mad House above mere gossip or palace intrigue is its structural critique. This isn’t just a story about a few bad apples. It’s about how incentives in Congress—and in American politics more broadly—now reward obstruction, outrage, and disinformation.
Want to raise money? Stir up a culture war.
Want airtime? Humiliate your own leadership.
Want to win a primary? Call your opponent a RINO and promise to impeach someone—anyone.
The book shows how traditional metrics of governance—passing laws, compromising, building coalitions—have been replaced by viral clips, donor emails, and TV hits. The most powerful force in Congress is no longer the Speaker. It’s the social media algorithm.
McCarthy’s Cautionary Tale
One of the most revealing arcs in the book is Kevin McCarthy’s brief and tortured reign as Speaker. The authors trace his journey from a shrewd backroom negotiator to a neutered figurehead trying to wrangle an ungovernable coalition.
McCarthy’s downfall, as depicted here, is almost Shakespearean. He brokers deals with far-right holdouts to secure the gavel, cedes procedural tools, and even opens a doomed impeachment inquiry to placate extremists. None of it works. Gaetz brings the hammer down anyway. Why? Because the chaos helps him more than it helps McCarthy. And that, Mad House argues, is the new logic of the institution.
McCarthy’s story is also a warning to moderates and institutionalists everywhere: you can’t placate the forces of destruction. You either confront them—or get consumed.
The Media Mirror
As congressional correspondents, Karni and Broadwater have a front-row seat to how the media covers this dysfunction—and they’re not afraid to critique their own industry. There are sharp observations about how headline-chasing, both on cable news and in print, often amplifies the very figures who are sabotaging the process.
They also dissect how members of Congress now run perpetual media operations, turning their offices into content farms. Constituents become secondary. Governance is an afterthought. The job now is to be seen, not to legislate.
A System in Free Fall
Beyond the personalities, the book explores how House rules and norms have been eroded to the point of irrelevance. Committee work is undermined. Budget deadlines are ignored. Oversight becomes circus. The authors trace how the once-powerful mechanisms for compromise—bipartisan working groups, “gangs,” backchannel negotiations—have all but vanished.
One of the most haunting chapters focuses on the debt ceiling standoff. We watch a handful of Republican lawmakers threaten to crater the global economy not out of ideological principle but because they can—and because they might get a Fox News hit out of it.
This is the “mad house”: not just chaos for chaos’s sake, but chaos as a career path.
Strengths of the Book
1. Deep Reporting
This isn’t secondhand gossip. Karni and Broadwater clearly did the work—interviews, FOIA requests, leaked texts. Every page carries the weight of firsthand sourcing. The footnotes alone are a goldmine for anyone following the ongoing real-world fallout from these events.
2. Balanced Tone
Despite the outrageous subject matter, the authors resist the urge to moralize. They present facts, context, and consequences—and trust the reader to connect the dots. It’s the kind of restraint you only get from reporters who’ve been embedded in the story for years.
3. Dark Humor with a Point
While the book has moments of levity—how could it not?—it never veers into parody. The absurdity is always grounded in stakes. Laughing at George Santos is one thing. Watching his vote tip the scales on real legislation? That’s not funny at all.
Weaknesses (and There Aren’t Many)
The book’s scope, while impressive, is largely confined to the House. That’s intentional, given the title, but readers looking for a broader look at right-wing extremism or dysfunction in the Senate or executive branch may feel there’s more to the story. In that sense, Mad House is a zoomed-in lens—one chamber, one timeframe.
Also, while the authors make nods to systemic reform (ranked choice voting, campaign finance overhaul), those sections are brief and light on actionable paths. But to be fair, this isn’t a policy manual. It’s a diagnosis. The prescription is someone else’s job.
Who Should Read This?
• Political junkies? Absolutely.
• Casual readers looking to understand what happened to Congress? Even more so.
• Moderates and conservatives frustrated with the current GOP? This book might sting, but it’s essential reading.
And for those wondering how things got this bad—Mad House won’t give you a comforting answer. But it will give you clarity.
Final Verdict: Brutal, Brilliant, and Deeply Disturbing
Mad House is the book you hand to someone who says, “It can’t be that bad.” It’s a meticulously reported, utterly damning account of what happens when spectacle replaces substance and power is treated as a game. It’s funny until it’s not. Then it’s terrifying.
Karni and Broadwater don’t just chronicle dysfunction. They name it, dissect it, and place it squarely in front of the American public. Whether we choose to do anything about it is up to us.
But if the last few years have shown us anything, it’s this: ignoring the madness doesn’t make it go away. It just hands the mic to the loudest voice in the room.
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What do you think—can Congress be saved, or are we too far gone? Let’s talk below.
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