Noon today in Washington DC will be the setting for the swearing in of new members of Congress. The 113th Congress will have 233 Republicans, 200 Democrats, and 2 vacancies in the House of Representatives and 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans, and 2 Independents in the Senate.
SENATE
There are 12 newly elected senators – eight Democrats, three Republicans and one independent.
At 1 p.m. ET, Vice President Joe Biden conducted a ceremonial swearing-in with each member outside the Senate Chamber.
HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES
Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms.
C-SPAN explains that "each opening session begins with the election of the Speaker, the Minority Leader’s presentation of the gavel, and the Speaker’s opening address to the House. The Dean of the House then swears in the Speaker, who, in turn, administers the oath of office to the whole House."
The 113th Congress includes the most women ever to serve in the lower chamber at the same time and the first time a political party will have more women and minorities than white men.
Let's hope this group is more productive than the 112th, the least productive Congress in over 50 years. The 112th Congress only passing 219 bills which were signed into law. To compare, President Harry Truman‘s “Do-Nothing Congress” passed 906 bills in 1947-48.
[nlposts blog_id=8 tag="113th Congress"]
