Updates:
2:49 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Pelosi is sworn in and calls the House to order. She is now swearing in the members of the House.
2:47 p.m. ET Jan.3, 2019: Pelosi calls her grandchildren and any other children in the House Chamber to join her for her swearing-in.
2:46 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Pelosi: Let this house truly be the people's house.
2:42 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Pelosi promises to protect dreamers, to advance gun control legislation and to protect people with pre-existing conditions.
2:40 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Pelosi says Democrats will be introducing legislation this afternoon to reopen the government.
2:39 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Pelosi: "When we disagree let us respect each other and respect the truth."
2:37 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Pelosi: "The American people spoke and demanded a new dawn."
2:34 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Pelosi is speaking, thanking families, veterans and singer Tony Bennett who is in the House Chamber. Pelosi reminds legislators that the Congress is co-equal with the president.
2:23 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, the minority leader in the House, is introducing Pelosi.
1:49 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Pelosi has been elected speak of the House. The vote count was: Pelosi, 220; Rep. Kevin McCarthy, 192; others, 18. Three members voted "present." Pelosi needed 215 votes to be elected speaker, or a majority of those present and who are voting for a person by name. The three voting present reduce the simple majority number from 218 (half of the 435 representatives) to 215.
>>FROM JAMIE DUPREE: Nancy Pelosi elected House Speaker as 116th Congress convenes
1:28 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: The vote continues for speaker. Pelosi is in the lead with a little more than half the votes counted. A groan was heard as Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, D-New York, votes for Pelosi. Pelosi also voted for herself.
12:58 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: The House vote for speaker has begun.
12:47 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, is nominating Kevin McCarthy to be minority leader.
12:42 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Nancy Pelosi is being nominated for House speaker by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York.
12:09 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: Members of the Senate are being sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence in groups of four.
12:01 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019: The Congress has convened.
Original story:
Members of the 116th Congress will be sworn in on Thursday and, following a procedure that dates back more than a century, will elect a speaker, swear an oath and get to work.
According to the Constitution, Congress must convene at noon Jan. 3. After convening they will elect officers and get committee assignments.
After some wrangling with incoming representatives and a promise of a limit on the years she will continue to serve, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, is expected to be elected speaker. Pelosi has said that there are plans to pass a spending bill immediately after she is sworn in, ending the partial government shutdown that began in December.
That bill will likely not include funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, and the president says he won’t sign a bill that doesn’t include such funding.
While most Democrats stayed quiet on the talk of impeachment during the midterm elections, some representatives have begun to use the “I” word.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, said he plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump on Thursday. The measure is one he first introduced in 2017.
Who are the likely new committee chairs?
Here are the representatives who are expected to become the new committee chairs:
- Jerry Nadler, D-New York, chair of the House Judiciary Committee
- Adam Schiff, D-California, chair of the House Intelligence Committee
- Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee
- Maxine Waters, D-California, chair of the House Financial Services Committee
- Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee
Here is how the day will go in the House:
There will be prayers and pledges of allegiance.
In the 435-member House, a roll call will begin on the election of a speaker.
After the speaker's election is over, Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is expected to speak, followed by an address by Pelosi.
The longest-serving member of the House, 24-term Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, and its dean will swear in Pelosi. The California Democrat then is expected to administer the oath to House members and delegates at the same time.
In the Senate:
In the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence will preside over the oath-taking of the 34 members who stood for election on Nov. 6. Republicans gained two seats in that chamber.
The oath:
Members of Congress take an oath on being sworn in. Here is that oath:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
About the Author
