The Vice President refuses to fall in line with Bartlet. Sam discusses the problem of Laurie with Josh and Toby. Bartlet hires Mandy as his consultant.

Still enraged at Morris's death, Bartlet makes a show of deadly force. C.J. is upset about being kept out of the loop about Laurie. Josh hires Bartlet's new personal assistant.

Five votes keep a very important gun-control bill from being passed and the staff has 72 hours to track down the errant congressmen. Toby is accused of manipulating the stock market by having a friend testify to Commerce on internet stocks. Leo's wife gets fed up with his long hours.

The staffers spend the day ("Big Block of Cheese day") dealing with private organizations, aka the crackpots. Throughout the day, Sam deals with a UFO nut, CJ gets a proposal to build a wolves-only road, Toby and Bartlet clash over everything, and Josh is overwhelmed by guilt regarding his sister's death.

Toby and Mandy push for a commerce bill with a census-counting provision, with three votes as the deciding factor. Sam tutors CJ on the finer points of the census. Josh & Sam take Charlie out for a beer and are joined by Zoey and Mallory.

The president of Indonesia is honored at a state dinner. The staff deals with Hurricane Sarah, a potential teamster strike, and a raid involving children in Idaho while a reporter flirts with CJ.

Bartlet and Hoynes argue in front of the Cabinet. CJ fends off Danny's advances when she suspects he's after a big story. Mallory asks Sam out. The staff leaps hurdles to pass a banking bill.

Bartlet struggles to name a nominee to the Supreme Court when the perfect nominee turns out to be not so perfect. A congressman attacks the staff, claiming that 1 in 3 use drugs.

Toby tries to arrange a proper funeral for a homeless veteran. Josh and Sam try to set up a preemptive strike against Lillienfield, who is attacking Leo because of his prior drug and alcohol problem. CJ tries to get the staff to revisit the hate crimes issue. Bartlet sneaks out to do some last minute shopping.