Happy New Year, and the best of everything for 2025!
For today, both the Senate and the House will convene at 12:00 P.M. Following Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 1:00 P.M. when the Joint Session of Congress will convene in the Hall of the House of Representatives under the provisions of S.Con.Res.2, to count the electoral ballots for the President and Vice President of the United States. Electoral ballots will be certified individually by state in alphabetical order.
The House is expected to be in session Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week and will consider pursuant to a Rule: H.R. 29 – Laken Riley Act and H.R. 23 – Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. The Senate is expected to be in session through Friday.
The 119th Congress was sworn in and off to a somewhat wobbly start this past Friday, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) reelected as House speaker during the first round of ballots by a razor-thin margin of 218-215. Three Republicans initially defected from Johnson: Representatives Ralph Norman (South Carolina), Keith Self (Texas) and Thomas Massie (Kentucky). Norman and Self switched their votes to Johnson after briefly meeting with him and speaking with President-elect Donald Trump. Every House Democrat voted for Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, (D-New York). After the vote, Members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus registered in a letter their “sincere reservations regarding the speaker’s track record over the past 15 months” telegraphing the challenges Speaker Johnson has waiting for him. The current makeup of Congress now stands as Republicans control the Senate and will have 53 seats. Democrats, including independents who caucus with them, will control 47. In the House, Republicans held on to their majority, winning 220 seats and Democrats won 215. But President-elect Trump has tapped two Republican members for positions in his administration, cutting into the party’s already narrow margins until special elections are held in the coming months. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) also resigned his seat, giving Republicans a final 219 to 215 edge.
Following Friday’s swearing in, at a closed-door House Republican retreat Saturday morning, newly re-elected House Speaker Johnson, said President-elect Trump was in favor of passing a single reconciliation bill that would address his priorities, including border security, energy and an extension of his signature 2017 tax law. Of note, Reconciliation allows Congress to pass party-line policies related to taxes and spending with simple majority votes, suspending the Senate’s usual 60-vote threshold needed to pass legislation. However, with a tiny House Republican majority and a four-seat GOP Senate majority, Republican lawmakers would still have little wiggle room to lose GOP votes, even when passing laws using reconciliation. Speaker Johnson publicly saying that Trump is in favor of a single reconciliation bill is important because some in the president-elect’s orbit, including those who will be involved in negotiating any package have been pushing Republicans for two separate reconciliation bills: one tackling immigration and the other focusing on Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which will expire later this year. Trump’s endorsement of just one bill will be welcome news to many in leadership but could be a blow to some MAGA hard-liners who want the border addressed immediately for messaging purposes. In fact, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, (R-South Dakota) endorsed a two-bill strategy in December, and Republicans in the chamber have already begun setting up the process for a border-only reconciliation bill.
OF NOTE:
Background on twelve new senators in the 119th Congress.
List of all current House members.
ADOPTING THE RULES FOR THE 119TH CONGRESS- Section-by-Section Analysis, TEXT
Combined, Latest, 2025 Senate and House Calendar
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
