A tense moment on the House of Representatives floor resulted in a Republican member physically lunging at another who then had to be restrained from further escalation.
The scuffle happened between Reps-elect Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., after the 14th House speaker vote failed.
Gaetz was discussing with Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the possibility of backing him in the next vote and appeared to mouth the word “committee.”
Gaetz is currently on the House Armed Services Committee, which is chaired by Rogers.
McCarthy appeared to agree and returned to his seat. Rogers, having witnessed the interaction, then walked up to Gaetz’s row and made a move toward him.
Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., intervened and physically restrained Rogers, pulling him back by his shoulders in full view of C-SPAN’s cameras.
Rogers could then be seen appearing to yell: “I won’t forget this!”
Fox News reached out to both Rogers and Gaetz’s offices for comment, but a response was not immediately received.
In the 15th and final vote, McCarthy was officially elected speaker with Gaetz voting “present.”
Following the official tally, Rep-elect Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, who received 212 votes in the speaker race, provided brief remarks and welcomed McCarthy to officially hand over the speaker gavel to McCarthy.
McCarthy will now preside over the 118th Congress.
“That was easy enough,” the Californian jokingly said in his own remarks.
Representatives from Gaetz and Rogers could not be immediately reached for comment.