For 89 days, 23 hours and about 53 minutes, House of Delegates Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk largely succeeded in her efforts to keep debates in her chamber civil and kind.

But as the clock ticked down to the midnight adjournment of the 2026 General Assembly session, chaos erupted in the House with delegates angrily yelling at each other, pointing fingers and accusing leaders of suppressing voices as they hurried bills over the finish line.

And across the marble hall of the State House, tensions flared in the state Senate in the final minutes, with Senate President Bill Ferguson admonishing a Republican senator to stop embarrassing himself.

The incidents marked a sour end to a session that saw lawmakers pass a balanced budget without tax increases, clamp down on cooperation with federal immigration authorities and provide modest relief on electric bills.

The breakdown in the House came as delegates took their final vote on the Voting Rights Act, a bill regarding standards for drawing districts in counties and municipalities.

Republican delegates began asking questions about the final version of the bill, but Democrats moved to limit debate — infuriating Republicans.

“No, no, no, no!” charged Del. Matt Morgan, chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Republicans howled their disagreement as debate was limited and Peña-Melnyk declined to allow lawmakers to explain their votes.

Peña-Melnyk called on Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat who serves as parliamentarian, the body’s rules expert. He stormed up the center aisle of the House, declaring: “The decision of the speaker is final!”

Republicans and Democrats shouted at each other to sit down.

“Madam speaker, this is ridiculous! This is not necessary!” one delegate insisted. Republicans attempted to challenge the speaker’s ruling, but Peña-Melnyk forged ahead and called the final vote on the bill.

Democrats began chanting: “Vote! Vote! Vote!”

The bill passed, 91-19, but the drama wasn’t done.

Del. Jason Buckel, the House minority leader, encouraged Republicans to walk off the floor.

“They have all the control in the world, and they still can’t follow their own rules,” he bellowed as he walked toward a corner of the chamber.

Morgan from the Freedom Caucus stayed in the chamber and pressed his case with Wilson, the parliamentarian, as multiple delegates yelled their opinions.

“One at a time! One at a time!” Peña-Melnyk said as she banged her gavel.

Peña-Melnyk moved on to the next bill, as Wilson and Del. Seth Howard, an Anne Arundel Republican, animatedly argued in the aisle. That last bill passed at 11:59 p.m.

Moments later, the session was adjourned and student pages dropped confetti and balloons on the chamber.

“Embarrassing, embarrassing,” one voice called out into a microphone. “Absolutely embarrassing.”

Afterwards, Peña-Melnyk brushed off the frantic scene as standard behavior for Sine Die, the session’s final day. The clock is running and Republicans, limited in their ability to impact or stave off legislation they don’t like, will do whatever they can to stall until midnight, she said.

“If you don’t support a policy of course you’re going to try everything under the sun to get in the way of that policy. Again, my job is to run the floor in a way that is respectful and civil, which I’ve done. And I stand by that.”

Nothing about Monday’s midnight bedlam would impact her relationships with Republicans, Peña-Melnyk said.

“My friends across the aisle, they’re my friends. They’re people that I love. As chair on the Health Committee, I had half of the Freedom Caucus on my committee. We had really tough issues on there ... but I always listened. That is just the process. It was the clock.”

The discord was reminiscent of 2023, when Del. Nic Kipke, an Anne Arundel County Republican, hollered at then-Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and told her to “sit down” in the final minutes. In a similar situation, Kipke and Republicans were upset that they weren’t allowed to explain their votes on a bill. He apologized the next day.

Meanwhile in the Senate, Sen. Bill Folden, a Frederick County Republican, engaged in a spirited discussion at his desk with Sally Robb, Ferguson’s chief of staff.

As Folden became more animated, Ferguson sent Senate Sergeant-at-Arms James Harrod, a a member of the Maryland State Police, to intervene.

The discussion continued with Harrod watching closely from the back of the chamber. Folden later said the conversation was about legislation that would raise the salary of the Frederick County sheriff.

Folden also made a last-minute attempt to amend a Prince George’s County bill to add the Frederick County sheriff’s raise, with just minutes to go before adjournment. That effort failed.

At 11:59 p.m., when Folden tried to ask a question on one last bill, Ferguson lost his patience.

“Senator, please stop, you’ve embarrassed yourself enough,” Ferguson said, as the final bill of the night died without a vote.

After the Senate adjourned, Folden and Robb hugged. Folden said that he had been given “certain indications” that a bill to give his county’s sheriff a raise would be successful, and was disappointed to see it fail.

“I’m not upset at the president,” Folden said of Ferguson’s remarks. “I didn’t appreciate what he said, but tensions are high, he’s trying to move a lot of people’s bills.”