Mad House: 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
Annie Karni · Luke Broadwater
Mar 2025 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Karen Murray
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About this audiobook
An exclusive fly-on-the-wall account of the epic dysfunction of the American Congress, from the rotating cast of failed Speakers to the MAGA efforts to impeach President Joe Biden to the insanity of the 2024 presidential race—by the star congressional reporters at The New York Times
“Mad House contains cyanide and candy on every page, which proves to be a killer combo. I loved it.”—Mark Leibovich, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers This Town and Thank You for Your Servitude
The United States Congress has always been messy and far-from-august, but as Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater show here, in scorching, shocking detail, it has reached some kind of chaotic bottom. The anarchy that reigned over Congress’s lower chamber in the wake of the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building—the election of serial liar and con-man George Santos, revenge porn being shown on the floor of the house, and the theatrical high jinks of Lauren Boebert—all were a sign of decay and dysfunction of the highest order. Even the members of the 118th Congress would admit it was a circus—but up close, the spectacle was more alarming than funny.
Taking the reader into closed door meetings as House Republicans, in thrall to a cult of personality, bumble ever deeper into extremism, and sniping House Democrats lose faith in their President, the authors reveal a level of disorder that we have never seen before. Mad House is a searing, rollicking, and deeply reported portrait of a body at war with itself, riven by pettiness, egomania, and score-settling, and defined by the truly unbelievable antics of people like Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Jim Jordan, who, handed the reins of power, attempted to actually govern a country. They did the bare minimum but voters in the 2024 elections rewarded them nonetheless, giving MAGA Republicans control of the White House, the Senate, and the House—and delivering to President Donald Trump a malleable Congress of loyalists there to serve. If you want a peek at what the next four years might look like, there’s no better place to start than the dysfunction that led us here.
“Mad House contains cyanide and candy on every page, which proves to be a killer combo. I loved it.”—Mark Leibovich, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers This Town and Thank You for Your Servitude
The United States Congress has always been messy and far-from-august, but as Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater show here, in scorching, shocking detail, it has reached some kind of chaotic bottom. The anarchy that reigned over Congress’s lower chamber in the wake of the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building—the election of serial liar and con-man George Santos, revenge porn being shown on the floor of the house, and the theatrical high jinks of Lauren Boebert—all were a sign of decay and dysfunction of the highest order. Even the members of the 118th Congress would admit it was a circus—but up close, the spectacle was more alarming than funny.
Taking the reader into closed door meetings as House Republicans, in thrall to a cult of personality, bumble ever deeper into extremism, and sniping House Democrats lose faith in their President, the authors reveal a level of disorder that we have never seen before. Mad House is a searing, rollicking, and deeply reported portrait of a body at war with itself, riven by pettiness, egomania, and score-settling, and defined by the truly unbelievable antics of people like Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Jim Jordan, who, handed the reins of power, attempted to actually govern a country. They did the bare minimum but voters in the 2024 elections rewarded them nonetheless, giving MAGA Republicans control of the White House, the Senate, and the House—and delivering to President Donald Trump a malleable Congress of loyalists there to serve. If you want a peek at what the next four years might look like, there’s no better place to start than the dysfunction that led us here.
About the author
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The New York Times. She joined the paper in 2018 and was previously a White House correspondent, covering both the Trump and Biden administrations. Before that, she worked for Politico, where she covered the 2016 presidential election, and the New York Post and the New York Daily News, covering local politics. She has also written for New York Magazine and Vogue. She frequently appears on television and radio programs.
Luke Broadwater is a congressional correspondent for The New York Times, where he has profiled congressional leaders, investigated federal spending, and played a key role in the paper’s coverage of the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol, for which the Times was named finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Prior to joining the Times, Luke worked for nearly a decade at the Baltimore Sun, where he was the lead reporter on a series of investigative articles that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and a George Polk Award for political reporting. He frequently appears on television and radio programs for interviews.
Luke Broadwater is a congressional correspondent for The New York Times, where he has profiled congressional leaders, investigated federal spending, and played a key role in the paper’s coverage of the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol, for which the Times was named finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Prior to joining the Times, Luke worked for nearly a decade at the Baltimore Sun, where he was the lead reporter on a series of investigative articles that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and a George Polk Award for political reporting. He frequently appears on television and radio programs for interviews.
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