Clock Runs Out — Donna's Final Plea to Hardin
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Donna confronts Ellen about Senator Hardin's refusal to vote, questioning her decision to ignore foreign aid despite her understanding of its importance.
Ellen defends Senator Hardin's actions, stating she is voting based on public opinion rather than personal belief, highlighting the conflict between political duty and individual conscience.
Donna makes a final plea, handing Ellen her cellphone and asking her to deliver it to the Senator on the floor, attempting a last-minute intervention.
The Presiding Officer announces the end of voting time, dashing Donna's hopes for a last-minute change, while Ellen takes a resigned stance.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Off-screen presence cast as burdensome and uncompromising; in Donna's telling he is the architect of her exhaustion and humiliation.
Not physically present in the scene but invoked repeatedly by Donna as the boss who demands exhausting labor and extraordinary favors; his practices and expectations are the emotional object of Donna's complaint.
- • (inferred) secure the votes necessary for the foreign aid bill
- • delegate intensive effort to trusted staff like Donna
- • preserve the administration's legislative momentum
- • political outcomes justify exhaustive demands on staff (inferred from Donna's complaint)
- • access and hustle from aides are necessary to win close votes
- • staff loyalty will be forthcoming if properly led
Wounded and defensive on the surface; anger and exhaustion breaking into a raw, public complaint that converts tactical failure into personal grievance.
Sitting when Ellen enters, Donna thrusts Josh's cellphone forward as a practical last-ditch lifeline, pleads for it to be carried to the Senator, delivers a blistering personal monologue about long hours and humiliations, reclaims the phone and walks off defeated but furious.
- • get the cellphone to Senator Hardin to secure a last-minute vote
- • protect or salvage the legislative outcome for the administration
- • force someone to act on Josh's behalf and preserve his access
- • access (a phone call) can still change a vote if delivered in time
- • her long hours and sacrifices entitle her to loyalty and practical reciprocation from her boss and the team
- • personal appeals are a legitimate tool in last-minute politics
Composed and slightly resigned; polite firmness masking a steely commitment to her senator's autonomy.
Enters the room, listens to Donna, accepts the cellphone briefly, states that the Senator will vote her conscience and follow public opinion, responds with quiet finality ('Win some, you lose some') and returns the phone when Donna reclaims it.
- • shield Senator Hardin from improper pressure
- • uphold the Senator's independence and public mandate
- • de-escalate the staff confrontation
- • elected officials must answer to constituents, not backstage appeals
- • procedural integrity and public opinion should dictate votes
- • staff should not convert private access into pressure
Impassive and administrative; carries institutional finality without drama.
Announces from offstage as the Presiding Officer voice-over that all time has expired and the yeas and nays have been ordered, abruptly terminating the window for any physical or communicative intervention on the floor.
- • enforce Senate rules and time limits
- • move the chamber to a formal vote
- • maintain order and procedural legitimacy
- • rules and procedures must be followed to preserve institutional legitimacy
- • timely closure of debate is necessary for orderly voting
- • the institution's calendar supersedes private urgencies
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Josh's cellphone is the concrete instrument of the last-ditch tactic: Donna offers it to Ellen to carry onto the Senate floor so the Senator can be reached. Ellen accepts it briefly, then Donna reclaims it after the Presiding Officer ends debate. The phone functions as both pragmatic access and symbolic proof of the personal costs Donna has borne.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Senate Floor is the intended destination and the literal battleground of the event: it is where the vote will be cast and where procedural closure is declared. Its closure (via the Presiding Officer's announcement) turns Donna's private scramble into a moot, publicized institutional outcome.
The Democratic Cloakroom (the small interior room just steps from the floor) is where the confrontation occurs: an intimate, claustrophobic space that channels pressure inward, making the exchange feel both like a tactical hub and a confessional. It frames Donna's plea as a private labor dispute colliding with public procedure.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The U.S. Senate functions here as the institutional force that closes the window of private political maneuvering. Through formal procedure (the Presiding Officer's announcement) it converts an urgent, improvised staff tactic into a moot point and enforces the separation between public mandate and backstage pressure.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Donna's relentless pursuit of Senator Hardin at the airport culminates in her confrontation with Ellen about the senator's refusal to vote, showing Donna's determination."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"ELLEN: The Senator's voting her conscience, Donna."
"PRESIDING OFFICER (V.O.): All time has expired. The yeas and nays have been ordered."
"DONNA: Can I tell you something? Josh has asked me to work Saturdays, work Sundays, and at least once a week he has me there after 1:00 AM. He's asked me to transpose portions of the federal budget into base-8, go to North Dakota and dress as an East German cocktail waitress. In five years of working for him, he's never asked me to hide him from something. Can I have my boss's phone back?"