With increased Democratic majorities, the new Congress convenes today in Washington, D.C., just two weeks before Barack Obama is sworn in as the next President of the United States.
Obama met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Congressional leaders in both parties on Monday, urging action on an economic stimulus bill which will certainly be the number one item on the agenda in 2009.
It's still not clear what exactly will be in an economic recovery bill, and that will be the central focus of work here over the next six weeks or so.
Democrats now hold a 256-178 advantage in the House, with one seat vacant (that of Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, who will soon be White House Chief of Staff.)
The Dems added 21 seats in the November elections. Right now they are on pace for an eight seat gain in the Senate.
The Senate is currently split at 55 Democrats, 41 Republicans and 2 Independents. Two seats are vacant as I write this, from Minnesota and Illinois.
Those two seats could be the basis for some good ole parliamentary wrangling on day one as new Senators are sworn into office, especially if Democrats try to seat Al Franken.
The other opening day controversy will be over in the U.S. House, where Democrats will make some rules changes that Republicans are already howling about.
Among the expected changes, an end to the six year term limits for House Committee chairs, which was put in place by Republicans after they won control of the House in 1994.
Democrats are also evidently going to do away with the right of the minority to offer so-called "Motions to Recommit" which the GOP has used to effectively derail certain legislation in the House the last two years.
The first one will spark a bit of hand wringing, but the second one could cause some hand-to-hand combat on the House floor.
Basically, it tightens the procedural rope around the hands of House Republicans, making it even more difficult for them to engage in guerilla legislative warfare.
But usually when one rule is restricted, some member will delve deep into the rule book and find another way to cause some problems.
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