'What Happens in the Ladies Room Stays in the Ladies Room'

The buzzy story out of DC on Tuesday revolves around Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. The Daily Beast reports that the GOP congresswomen got into a heated confrontation on the first day of the new Congress in a House bathroom. “Greene questioned Boebert's loyalty to [Kevin] McCarthy, and after a few words were exchanged, Boebert stormed out," a source tells the outlet. Another source quotes Greene as saying, "You were OK taking millions of dollars from McCarthy but you refuse to vote for him for speaker, Lauren?” Boebert responded, "Don't be ugly," per the story. The background: Greene supported McCarthy's bid to become speaker, but Boebert was among the holdouts.

Neither is commenting on the alleged spat. Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell reportedly witnessed the exchange, but she would say only: "What happens in the ladies room stays in the ladies room." While Greene and Boebert are often lumped together as conservative allies—they notably united in opposition to President Biden's State of the Union, in real time—the DB story notes that friction between them has been percolating for a while. This comes as both seek to gain bigger influence within the party, notes the Washington Examiner. Greene, in particular, has been the focus of a number of stories on that front lately:

• The Washington Post had an analysis on the "remaking" of Greene, suggesting that her decision to align herself with McCarthy is part of an effort "to position herself as conduit between the populist base and her party's leaders."
• NPR also declares that Greene is "having a moment" and tracks her movement from the fringe of the party closer to the establishment. "So what has changed from the last Congress to this one?" the story asks. "Is it the Republican Party, Marjorie Taylor Greene, or a little bit of both?" GOP pollster Jim Hobart thinks Greene is taking advantage of what he sees as a power vacuum among Republicans. "I don't know necessarily if Marjorie Taylor Greene has changed, she's just changed the tone of the way that she talks about things," he says. "She's changed who she is talking to, and she's changed the focus in those conversations."

(More Marjorie Taylor Greene stories.)