Hitting the gym, dog-sitting, and actually showing up to meet constituents: Here's how House Democrats spent their 3 weeks without a speaker

• House Democrats were mostly stuck in DC for 3 weeks as the GOP struggled to choose a new speaker.
• With few hearings and no bills moving, that meant much more downtime than usual.
• Some Democrats told Insider they found a silver lining, like hitting the gym or dog-sitting.

Stuck in Washington but unable to pass legislation, members of the House of Representatives were in a kind of purgatory during the 22 days between Kevin McCarthy's ouster and Mike Johnson's elevation to speaker.