Bill's mother, Enid Powers (Cloris Leachman), shows up just before her 93rd birthday and announces that she's moving in until she dies. Then she asks her already frustrated daughter-in-law to kill her off! Meanwhile, Sophie surprises Jordan when she moves into her apartment building, leaving Jordan concerned that the Senator's nosy daughter will discover their affair.
The Powers are ecstatic when they are invited the Presidential motorcade for Clinton's inauguration, but when Jordan is excluded, she tries to make Bill jealous by making plans with an old boyfriend. As the delayed Powers and a bicycling Bradley brave the icy roads in hopes of catching up with the President, Theodore worries that Charlotte thinks he forgot her birthday.
Just as Sophie asks Margaret for some tips on fitting into the Washington scene, the boyfriend who always kept her down shows up to take her back to New Jersey. Meanwhile, Margaret is desperate to get a Supreme Court Justice to show up at her party, and Bradley and Jordan try to show each other up by getting the most influential guests at the event.
A crisis back in the Senator's home state is nothing compared to the crisis in the Senator's household -- Charlotte wants to quit because of her secret feelings for Theodore. Meanwhile, Jordan is frustrated that Margaret's problems are more important to Bill than celebrating the anniversary of their relationship together.
The Senator takes a road trip to visit his elderly mother (Cloris Leachman) and picks up a hitchhiker -- who turns carjacker. As Bill then tries to make his way to his mother's home, the carjacker crashes the car into a gas tanker, leaving the family and the press to believe the Senator has been killed. As the Powers camp mourns Bill, Margaret contemplates accepting her husband's Senate seat.