The fifth season of the American political drama television series The West Wing aired in the United States on NBC from September 24, 2003, to May 19, 2004, and consisted of 22 episodes.
The staffs of both men, now forced to work together in the West Wing, weigh options that include a preemptive military strike at terrorist targets — a move that could doom Zoey.
Josh fumes over his perceived notion that the Republicans will exploit and push forward their own legislative agenda, and Toby visits his newborn twins while pondering what will happen.
His first choice, Secretary of State Lewis Berryhill, cannot be approved and he and his staff are unimpressed with the compromise candidate they end up with, reflecting on how recent events have emboldened the Republicans.
Meanwhile, the reclusive First Lady tends to personal matters and expresses anger towards her husband and Leo, Amy champions Abbey's violence prevention provisions for an upcoming bill, the President drops in on a citizenship swearing-in ceremony, and Donna is appalled by a cocky new intern, Ryan (Jesse Bradford).
A renowned North Korean pianist is greeted at the White House for a solo performance, but the formalities change when the musician slips a message to the President stating that he wants to defect.
Carrick withholds his approval of a backlog of military promotions so he can secure an expensive but ineffective missile system that a former Republican President pledged to build in his state.
As the Bartlet clan, including a late Ellie, gathers for the White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Christian missionaries are arrested in Sudan for proselytizing.
Toby finishes the State of the Union address a few weeks early, and Joey Lucas, who is now pregnant, polls responses to the speech from the public.
Charlie is intrigued by Meeshell Anders (Gabrielle Union), an aspiring journalist who does not initially reveal that she will soon become part of the White House Press Corps.
Meanwhile, the man who rescued him, now the head of a major contractor for the Department of Defense, faces questions in a Senate probe, forcing Leo into a potentially dangerous conflict-of-interest.
Josh pushes to nominate federal judge Evelyn Baker Lang (Glenn Close) to fill the seat, but she is seen as too liberal to be confirmed.
However, instead of settling on a compromise candidate moderate enough for both sides of the aisle, Josh and Toby decide to nominate her as the first female Chief Justice of the United States by convincing the ailing liberal Chief Justice Ashland (Milo O'Shea) to retire, while also nominating a conservative but brilliant young judge (William Fichtner) to fill the other open seat.
supervises her team in preparation for a formal papal visit with President Bartlet and dodges difficult questions about the future of the current FBI director.
has some career advice for Donna; Leo and Abbey spar over health issues, personal and political; and Josh gets to know new NSC staffer Kate Harper.
A photojournalist from Belfast, Colin Ayres (Jason Isaacs), has paired up with Donna Moss, and takes pictures of her right before an explosion flips over the Suburban carrying her and Admiral Fitzwallace.
Events in the tinderbox Gaza Strip spin out of control as the angry President weighs appropriate military action, even as Israel launches its own strikes and surrounds the Palestinian chairman, prompting more retaliatory terrorism.
The website's critical consensus reads, "Executive producer John Wells admirably attempts to maintain the spirit of Aaron Sorkin's vision after succeeding him, but The West Wing's fifth season is a sloppy changing of the guard that bears the Bartlet administration's agenda but possesses not of its finesse or flair.