Today, on January 3, the 116th United States Congress will be sworn in to office. This Congress will grant Democrats a majority in the House of Representatives and the Republicans will hold their majority, even expanding it, in the Senate.
HISTORY:
Up until 1935, this transition of power took place on March 4, which was the same date that the President was sworn in on. In late 1933, the 20th Amendment was written, which states: "The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin." A session of Congress lasts 2 years, which means that the next Congress, the 117th Congress, will be sworn in on January 3, 2021.
IMPORTANCE:
Tomorrow, it is assumed that Nancy Pelosi, a senior Democratic congresswoman from California, will be elected the new Speaker of the House. I say assumed because the Democrats do have the majority and are all expected to vote for Pelosi, but anything can happen and the vote is yet to be complete. With Democrats in power, they might attempt to launch impeachment proceedings against President Trump or block some of his legislation. The houses of Congress are going to be split between the two parties, which will result in a deadlock in which major legislation is difficult to pass. This may be resolved in the 2020 elections or could go on longer.
NEW CONGRESSPEOPLE:
Colin Allred (Texas Democrat, District 32) Kelly Armstrong (North Dakota Republican, District 1) Cindy Axne (Iowa Democrat, District 3)
Jim Baird (Indiana Republican, District 4) Mike Braun (Indiana Republican, Senate) Anthony Brindisi (New York Democrat, District 22) Tim Burchett (Tennessee Republican, District 2)
Ed Case (Hawaii Democrat, District 1) Sean Casten (Illinois Democrat, District 6) Gil Cisneros (California Democrat, District 39) Ben Cline (Virginia Republican, District 6) TJ Cox (California Democrat, District 21) Angie Craig (Minnesota Democrat, District 2) Dan Crenshaw (Texas Republican, District 2) Jason Crow (Colorado Democrat, District 6) Joe Cunningham (South Carolina Democrat, District 1)
Sharice Davids (Kansas Democrat, District 3) Madeleine Dean (Pennsylvania Democrat, District 4) Antonio Delgado (New York Democrat, District 19)
Veronica Escobar (Texas Democrat, District 16)
Abby Finkenauer (Iowa Democrat, District 1) Lizzie Fletcher (Texas Democrat, District 7) Russ Fulcher (Idaho Republican, District 1)
Jesus Garcia (Illinois Democrat, District 4) Sylvia Garcia (Texas Democrat, District 29) Jared Golden (Maine Democrat, District 2) Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio Republican, District 16) Lance Gooden (Texas Republican, District 5) Mark Green (Tennessee Republican, District 7) Michael Patrick Guest (Mississippi Republican, District 3)
Debra Haaland (New Mexico Democrat, District 1) Jim Hagedorn (Minnesota Republican, District 1) Josh Harder (California Democrat, District 10) Mark Harris (North Carolina Republican, District 9) Josh Hawley (Missouri Republican, Senate) Jahana Hayes (Connecticut Democrat, District 5) Kevin Hern (Oklahoma Republican, District 1) Katie Hill (California Democrat, District 25) Kendra Horn (Oklahoma Democrat, District 5) Steven Horsford (Nevada Democrat, District 4) Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania Democrat, District 6)
Dusty Johnson (South Dakota Republican, District 1) John Joyce (Pennsylvania Republican, District 13)
Andy Kim (New Jersey Democrat, District 3) Ann Kirkpatrick (Arizona Democrat, District 2)
Susie Lee (Nevada Democrat, District 3) Mike Levin (California Democrat, District 49) Andy Levin (Michigan Democrat, District 9) Elaine Luria (Virginia Democrat, District 2)
Tom Malinowski (New Jersey Democrat, District 7) Ben McAdams (Utah Democrat, District 4) Lucy McBath (Georgia Democrat, District 6)
Martha McSally (Arizona Republican, Senate) Dan Meuser (Pennsylvania Republican, District 9) Carol Miller (West Virginia Republican, District 3) Joseph D Morelle (New York Democrat, District 25) Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Florida Democrat, District 26)
Joseph Neguse (Colorado Democrat, District 2)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York Democrat, District 14) Ilhan Omar (Minnesota Democrat, District 5)
Chris Pappas (New Hampshire Democrat, District 1) Greg Pence (Indiana Republican, District 6) Dean Phillips (Minnesota Democrat, District 3) Katie Porter (California Democrat, District 45) Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts Democrat, District 7)
Guy Reschenthaler (Pennsylvania Republican, District 14) Denver Riggleman (Virginia Republican, District 5) Mitt Romney (Utah Republican, Senate) Max Rose (New York Democrat, District 11) John Rose (Tennessee Republican, District 6) Harley Rouda (California Democrat, District 48) Chip Roy (Texas Republican, District 21)
Mary Gay Scanlon (Pennsylvania Democrat, District 5) Kim Schrier (Washington Democrat, District 8) Rick Scott (Florida Republican, Senate) Donna Shalala (Florida Democrat, District 27) Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey Democrat, District 11)
Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona Democrat, Senate)
Xochitl Torres Small (New Mexico Democrat, District 2) Abigail Spanberger (Virginia Democrat, District 7) Ross Spano (Florida Republican, District 15) Greg Stanton (Arizona Democrat, District 9) Pete Stauber (Minnesota Republican, District 8) Bryan Steil (Wisconsin Republican, District 1) Greg Steube (Florida Republican, District 17) Haley Stevens (Michigan Democrat, District 11)
Van Taylor (Texas Republican, District 3) William Timmons (South Carolina Republican, District 4) Rashida Tlaib (Michigan Democrat, District 13) Lori Trahan (Massachusetts Democrat, District 3) David Trone (Maryland Democrat, District 6)
Lauren A Underwood (Illinois Democrat, District 14)
Jeff Van Drew (New Jersey Democrat, District 2)
Michael Waltz (Florida Republican, District 6) Steve Watkins (Kansas Republican, District 2) Jennifer Wexton (Virginia Democrat, District 10) Susan Wild (Pennsylvania Democrat, District 7) Ron Wright (Texas Republican, District 6)