Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Frank and Claire campaign against Republican Will Conway in an election shaped by Frank’s declaration of war on ICO. The Underwoods use the threat and a staged terrorist crisis to influence voters, while Conway’s campaign is damaged by his volatile conduct and his refusal to accept Frank’s framing of the crisis. Neither candidate wins enough electoral votes for an immediate result. The Senate elects Claire vice president, and with the House unable to choose a president, she becomes acting president while Congress prepares another vote.
Frank keeps the election dispute alive, and the Underwoods’ effort to secure Ohio eventually puts them back in office. Claire is sworn in as vice president and Frank begins another term as president. In Washington, Tom Hammerschmidt continues investigating Frank, while former president Garrett Walker and other witnesses expose the campaign’s foreign-money scheme. Claire kills speechwriter and former lover Tom Yates after discovering that his book contains damaging material. Doug Stamper takes the blame for Zoe Barnes’s murder.
As impeachment becomes likely, Frank reveals that he sent the evidence against himself to the Herald, creating the scandal that would force his departure. He resigns rather than face removal, and Claire is sworn in as president. LeAnn Harvey is killed after losing her place in the new administration. The season’s closing scenes show Frank outside the White House, asking Claire to pardon him and outlining a plan to wield power from beyond the presidency. Claire does not answer his call. Their alliance has shifted: she holds the office, while Frank expects to direct events from outside it.