Congressional Ball
Veep | Season 5 | Episode 7

Congressional Ball

TV-MA | 29 MIN

Written by Billy Kimball
Story by Armando Iannucci
Directed by Maurice Marable

On Air Force One, Selina exchanges souvenirs from the plane for Rep. Penny Nickerson's support of her presidency.

To everyone's shock, Gary makes The Hill's "50 Hottest Staffers" list, coming in at No. 21. Amy covers her disappointment when she learns she didn't make the cut.

Meeting with Tom and her staff, Selina is briefed on the annual Congressional Ball. Roger instructs Selina to schmooze and win over representatives who will impact her votes. Faking an exit from the meeting, Selina returns to discuss Mike's recent discovery: Tom met with O'Brien supporter Sidney Purcell at a Korean barbecue restaurant. Selina instructs her staff to keep a close eye on Tom at the ball.

On Air Force One, Selina exchanges souvenirs from the plane for Rep. Penny Nickerson's support of her presidency.

To everyone's shock, Gary makes The Hill's "50 Hottest Staffers" list, coming in at No. 21. Amy covers her disappointment when she learns she didn't make the cut.

Meeting with Tom and her staff, Selina is briefed on the annual Congressional Ball. Roger instructs Selina to schmooze and win over representatives who will impact her votes. Faking an exit from the meeting, Selina returns to discuss Mike's recent discovery: Tom met with O'Brien supporter Sidney Purcell at a Korean barbecue restaurant. Selina instructs her staff to keep a close eye on Tom at the ball.

When Jonah and Richard mock debate, Jonah proves himself incompetent, but Richard impresses Jeff with his smooth performance as Judy Sherman. Their prep work is interrupted when Dan gets word that Jonah accidentally referred to a Vermont town during a speech in New Hampshire.

On Dan's orders, Richard follows Judy Sherman with a camera and tries to capture any dirt he can on tape. The widow catches him spying on her at a dinner at the Ladies Club of Manchester and shares some choice words. Richard rushes to show his footage of the encounter to Dan, Jeff and Jonah, but it turns out he accidentally turned the camera off during the exchange.

Selina works the room at the Congressional Ball, brokering deals in exchange for votes. Over the course of the evening, Selina, Kent and Ben discover that Tom is convincing representatives to abstain from voting in the House. He's realized that if no one gets the majority vote in the House, the decision will go to the Senate, and if it's up to the Senate, he has a shot at becoming president.

Going into crisis mode, Selina pulls Tom aside to speak privately. Selina accuses him not only of joining her ticket to get a step closer to the presidency, but also to get a step closer to her. She gets Tom to admit he's wanted to sleep with her, and they begin to passionately make out. Gary walks in on them having sex, but retreats out of the room before he's observed.

Jonah works the shoe rental counter at a New Hampshire bowling alley as part of his campaign. When Jonah's groper, Teddy Sykes, shows up at the bowling alley, Jonah confronts him as Richard captures the moment on camera. Dan, Jeff, Richard and Jonah watch the footage play on the nightly news, only to realize the framing of the shot makes it look as if Jonah is insulting a mentally handicapped bowling alley employee.

Re-entering the ball, Selina pulls Rep. Nickerson aside and reams her for deciding to pull her support. Nickerson tries to make a play for greater political gain in return for her vote, but Selina threatens total political decimation if the congresswoman doesn't support her. With the help of her staff, Selina is able to re-secure the votes she lost.

Amy finds out from Candi Caruso, a female staffer who made The Hill's "50 Hottest Staffers" list, Gary was included because of a typo: Candi's fiancé, Gary Welsh, was supposed to be No. 21.

HBO Max