Congress' Opening Week in 7 Awkward GIFs
Boehner smooches Pelosi and Biden spits out a mint.
— -- Congress returned to Washington this week, and things got awkward -- fast.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF must be worth about 100,000. So here are seven GIFs that sum up the 114th Congress’ first week on the Hill, as Republicans took control of both the House and the Senate:
1. MWAH! John Boehner, fresh off his re-election as Speaker of the House, plants a smooch on Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s cheek.
Boehner, R-Ohio, was re-elected with 216 votes, but 24 Republicans voted for somebody else.
“My door, of course, is always open,” he told colleagues. “Just don't get carried away."
2. OUCH. Welp, that doesn’t look good. Fresh off a crushing midterm defeat for his party – and an exercise equipment accident that left him with several broken bones – a bruised Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid explains why he’s not at the Capitol on the 114th's opening day.
The Senator, a former boxer, assured his constituents, “I didn’t get this black eye by sparring with Manny, " but added that he would “continue to fight for good things for this country.”
3. TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT Gaffe-prone Vice President Joe Biden whispers in the ear of Sen. Chris Coons’ daughter, Maggie, during her father’s ceremonial swearing-in ceremony.
4. ALL SMILES Almost giddy over the GOP’s double majority, new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took the reins of the Senate Tuesday, fulfilling a lifelong ambition.
5. THE EYES HAVE IT Speaker Boehner, who’d been criticized by conservatives for his perceived willingness to work with President Obama, shakes his head in disgust: “It does pain me to be called spineless or a squish.”
“I’ll tell you what pains me the most,” the speaker added, “is when they describe me as the establishment.”
6. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was taken aback when she learned at a news conference that longtime Sen. Barbara Boxer announced her intention to retire in 2016.
“It’s funny, she called me and said she wanted to talk to me personally,” Pelosi said. “I thought maybe she wanted to have dinner tonight or something. Oh my.”
7. “OH, MY MINT!” Swept up in schmoozing, Biden accidentally spits out his mint on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
ABC News' Arlette Saenz and John Parkinson contributed to this report.
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