Behind the Scenes: Swearing in the 119th Congress

Posted by Ryan Fitzgerald on January 6, 2025

On Friday, the 119th Congress was sworn in, and GoWest Advocacy team was on Capitol Hill making direct contact with those newly elected to serve. We also continue to develop advocacy relationships with new and returning Senators and Members of Congress. 

In coordination with industry partners, America’s Credit Unions, GoWest Advocacy Team members and credit union representatives took part in Congressional swearing-in celebration, open houses and events to welcome the newly minted members of the 119th Congress.  

With nine new Freshman members of the GoWest Congressional delegation, one making a move from the House to the Senate, and one member changing congressional districts, we have seen quite a bit of change heading into the 119th Congress, as it prepares to kick off  this week. All in all we still have 48 members of Congress in the GoWest delegation, with nine members of the delegation in new seats, several have new committee assignments and leadership positions, which provides our advocates with the opportunity to continue to educate both the full complement of leaders on important credit union issues and the impact that the not-for-profit financial structure has on the constituents, businesses, and communities in their districts. 

GoWest’s Freshman Members of Senate and House 

Makeup of Congress and finalization of the Speaker Vote 

Mid-morning on Friday, the U.S. Senate quietly presented the oath of office to the 33 members that were (re)elected to the Senate, including the newest members of the body that included five (5) Republicans and four (4) Democrats. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) was GoWest’s only newly elected freshman Senator, following a hard-fought election in Arizona. He will take over the seat of retiring Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Senator Gallego also received his new committee assignments this past week, which excitingly included his new appointment to the Senate Banking Committee, along with the Committees of Homeland Security, Energy & Natural Resources and Veterans Affairs. 

On the other side of the Capitol Rotunda, in the House of Representatives, there was a little bit more excitement in swearing-in all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. As the process got started, around noon EST, there was an undercurrent of anxious energy regarding whether current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson would have the votes to maintain his role as Speaker in the 119th Congress. After gaveling-in and taking steps to close out the proceedings of the 118th Congress, the first action required of the new Congress is to elect the Speaker. No additional actions may be taken, including the swearing-in of the new members, until there has been a Speaker established. As you recall from 2023, the previous Speaker vote took fifteen separate vote attempts before the eventual Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, could finalize his election. McCarthy was later ousted in lieu of the current Speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA-1). 

The current makeup of the U.S. House is a very slight majority for the Republican party. There were 63 new representatives elected out of 435, in the 2024 election, including 33 Democrats and 30 Republicans, which has left the Republicans with only a two (2) vote majority in the 119th Congress. That being the case, Speaker Johnson had to garner 218 votes to retain his speakership.  

As the Speaker vote was initiated, the news had outlined that at least one member of the Republican party had publicly announced that they would not support Johnson in the Speaker vote. As the House Clerk read each name of the incoming Congress, it appeared that it was going to be a straight party line vote, Democrats voting for Minority Leader Hakim Jefferies (D-NY), and Republicans for Mike Johnson. There were some dramatics throughout the more than an hour-long vote, including several members of the Republican party withholding their vote until the end. When the vote came to an end, three (3) members of the Republican party had voted for someone besides Mike Johnson, meaning he would not likely be successful in his effort to retain the speakership.  

As the Majority party runs the activity of House floor, they appeared to be holding the vote open to see if any negotiations with the ‘no’ votes could be made. The news has reported that during the 20-30 minute delay in the voting process, President-Elect Trump made several phone calls to the three individual hold outs and was able to sway two of those members to change their votes in order to support Mike Johnson’s continued Speakership. In the end, Speaker Johnson was re-elected to be Speaker of the House on the first vote (218 – Johnson / 216 – Jefferies / 1 – Emmer). 

The vote for Speaker of the House is a pre-cursor to the challenges that Speaker Johnson and the Majority are likely to face during upcoming negotiations on the packed agenda that has been laid out by President-elect Trump and the leadership of his party. Some of those top issues include: border security and immigration reform, military readiness and spending, energy security, tax cut reformulation, government oversight and spending reductions.  

The GoWest Advocacy Team was pleased to be on Capitol Hill to take part in open houses, meet ‘n’ greets, and celebrations for the swearing-in of the 119th Congress. We were able to meet with the majority of the freshman members and / or their staff during the swearing-in activities as well as some stand-alone policy meetings at the beginning of this week. The team will be closely involved, on the ground in DC, and actively participating in the activities as the 119th Congress gets into full swing. Be on the lookout for communications and activity requests where our GoWest credit unions can get actively involved in policy efforts moving forward.    

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Federal Advocacy.