On January 3, 2023 at Noon, the 118th Congress will be gavelled into session. Each Congress is divided into two, one-year sessions. The 119th Congress will commence in January 2025. Here are some things you might want to know about what happens when a new Congress begins.

Swearing in New Members

In the Senate, each newly elected senator is sworn in by the Vice President of the United States who serves as President of the Senate. They then sign the Oath Book. Senators are elected for six-year terms and only one-third of the Senate is up for election every two years. Those continuing in office do not need to take the oath unless they have just been re-elected.

In the House, representatives serve for two years and so are newly elected at the start of each new Congress. Representatives take the oath together, gathered in the House chamber. Many will also arrange to take the oath individually, administered by the Speaker of the House, as a “photo op.”

Choosing Leadership

Each party in the Senate chooses its leaders in a party caucus meeting. The majority party is headed by the Senate majority leader. The majority leader and the minority leader are the spokespeople for their parties on the floor. A majority is determined by which caucus has the most members. In the 118th Congress there are three independent senators: Bernie Sanders (VT); Angus King (ME); and Krysten Sinema (AZ) who caucus with the Democrats. As of this writing, Sen. Sinema has not confirmed that she will caucus with the Democrats although she has stated she will not caucus with the Republicans. 

In the House, after the election, each party meets to choose their candidates for House leadership: Speaker, Leader, and Whip as well as caucus chairs. On January 3, the full House will vote on who will be Speaker of the House. The winner must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast which has meant that the party with the majority of members wins the election for Speaker. 

Committee Make Up

At the beginning of the new Congress, the Senate will vote on an organizing resolution, usually negotiated between the two party leaders, that will lay out how the Senate will be organized—the ratio of committee membership between the two parties, committee membership, and other agreements on how the Senate will conduct its business. In the House, the party caucuses decide on who will sit on each committee and who will chair the committee—an assignment given to a member of the majority party—and who, from the minority party, will be the ranking member of each committee. 

Legislation 

Each new Congress begins with a fresh slate. No matter how far along legislation might have progressed in the previous Congress, once a new Congress begins, bills must be reintroduced and start the process again. This is not the case when the Congress moves from the first year or session to the second. Nominations, which are the purview of the Senate, that were not confirmed are returned to the White House for re-nomination. In most cases if the President resubmits a nomination that has gone through the hearing process, the nominee is not subject to a new hearing.

H.R. 1/S. 1

The majority party often telegraphs their priorities by assigning low bill numbers to legislation they deem to be most important. Watch which bills get the low numbers to get an idea of what the majority in the chamber wants to highlight.