Washington – The new year brings with it a new Congress, which is set to convene on Tuesday, kicking off two years of divided government and opposition to President Biden in a GOP-controlled House intent on overturning his agenda.
The House and Senate will convene at noon Tuesday to mark the start of the 118th Congress, where Democrats retain control of the upper chamber but with narrow Republican majorities. Eighty-two new members will take office for the first time — 47 Republicans and 36 Democrats — including several making history and one, GOP Representative-elect George Santos of New York. Under supervision After he admitted to fabricating parts of his resume.
But before members can take the oath of office, the House must elect a new Speaker, and this year, the vote on the House floor is sure to be straightforward.
Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is running for speaker after four years as minority leader. He won the nomination It’s unclear whether he locked up the votes needed to prevail on the House floor Tuesday, with all members voting in a closed-door vote at the House GOP caucus in November.
To win the race for Speaker, McCarthy needs an absolute majority of votes — not a majority of the entire membership. If all delegates are present, he will need 218 votes. But the number could be lower if absent or if members answered “presently”.
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McCarthy met with several of his detractors and allies in the speaker’s suite Monday evening, CBS News confirmed. No word on whether progress has been made.
said Rep. Elise Stefanik, chairwoman of the House GOP conference Tweet He will recommend McCarthy to the floor on Tuesday morning.
Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s name has been removed from the office’s nameplate ahead of the new Congress.
Facing opposition from some members on the right wing of the convention, McCarthy has made several concessions in an attempt to win their votes. But efforts to placate some of his GOP colleagues appear to have failed, as McCarthy still faces opposition from at least nine House Republicans who say he falls short of his promises.
“At this point, it is not surprising that expressions of unequivocal convictions are inadequate on several important points still under debate,” the nine members and elected members wrote. Letter On Sunday. “This is especially true of Mr. McCarthy’s candidacy for Speaker, as the times call for a radical departure from the status quo — not a continuation of past and ongoing Republican failures.”
It lamented that McCarthy’s commitments “have been almost impossibly delayed in addressing the deficiencies that persisted before the opening of the 118th Congress.”
The California Republican delivered on his promises in a letter to re-elected and incoming GOP colleagues over the weekend in which he pledged to facilitate a vote to remove the speaker from office, reversing his position. A process called motion to quit. Under McCarthy’s plan, any five Republican members of the House could initiate a vote to oust the Speaker.
A set of rules pushed by the incoming House GOP majority — formalizing McCarthy’s compromises — ends proxy voting and remote committee proceedings; Eliminates fines for members not wearing masks and fines for members who violate security screenings outside the House floor; and establishing the Select Subcommittee on “Federal Weaponization to Investigate the Biden Administration’s Attack on the Constitutional Rights of American Citizens.”
For House Democrats, the 118th Congress is a A new generation of leadershipRepresentative of New York. Hakeem Jeffries serves as party chairman, Rep. Catherine Clark of Massachusetts serves as Democratic whip, and Rep. Pete Aguilar of California serves as caucus chairman.
The new class of soon-to-be lawmakers includes several first-timers, including Becca Palint, the first congresswoman to represent Vermont and an openly gay man, and Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Florida, the first member at 25. From generation Z.
There will be 156 House Republicans in the next Congress raises doubts About the validity of the 2020 presidential election, an incoming GOP member, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, attended a rally for former President Donald Trump. Jan. 6, 2021and was photographed at the Capitol during the riots.
Mr. While the first two years of Biden’s first term were marked by a legislative package of Democratic priorities and several bipartisan achievements, the second half of his first term could see his agenda stalled from Capitol Hill. GOP-led House.
As the White House prepares for a wave of investigations by Republican lawmakers, Mr. Including the business activities of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. The international spread of Covid-19 and the border policies of the Biden administration.
Anita Dunn, Mr. Senior adviser to Biden, Said “Face the Nation”. After the midterm elections in November, the White House “has and will continue to comply with fair and proper oversight,” but has been criticized by Republicans for advancing a political agenda.
“The president is going to focus on the priorities of the American people,” he said. “We believe that the American people will also ask that the Republicans, who have suffered a significant defeat based on their expectations and what midterm elections have historically tended to do, focus on the priorities of the American people.”
Meanwhile, in the Senate, Democrats will control 51 seats to Republicans’ 49. Expanded Majority Mr. Making it easier for Biden’s nominees to get to caucuses and the Senate floor.
Nicole Killian and Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this report.
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