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Congress is preparing to convene for the start of a new session during a tumultuous period, swearing-in lawmakers as a relative handful of Republicans work to overturn Joe Biden’s Victory over President Donald Trump and the surge of the coronavirus imposes Capitol limits.
Democrat Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to be re-elected by her party as House speaker on Sunday, retaining the majority in the House but with the slimest margin in 20 years after a November election wipeout.
The opening of the Senate might be one of Mitch McConnell’s final acts at the head of the majority. Until the runoff elections on Tuesday for two Senate seats in Georgia, Republican control is in question. Which party holds the chamber will be determined by the result.
Divided government is often said to be a time for legislative compromises, but lawmakers are charging the nation more torn than ever in the 117th Congress, disputing even basic facts, including that Biden won the presidential election.
The 2020 presidential election was not spoiled by fraud, a fact confirmed by election officials across the country. Attorney General William Barr, a Republican appointed by Trump, said before stepping down last month that fraud did not affect the outcome of the election. Also, the Republican governors of Arizona and Georgia, whose states were crucial to the victory of Biden, stated that their election results were accurate.
Nevertheless, a dozen Republicans, led by Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, bound for the new Senate, and even more in the House, have vowed to become a force of resistance to the White House of Biden, beginning with attempts to subvert the will of American voters. When the Electoral College meets Wednesday to tally its 306-232 victory over Trump, these GOP lawmakers plan to object to the election results.
In the meantime, Democrats are pushing forward, eager to partner with Biden on shared priorities, beginning with efforts to stem the pandemic and the economic crisis. For most individuals, they plan to revisit the failed effort to boost pandemic aid to $2,000.
“In the United States of America, this has been a time of great challenge filled with trials and tribulations, but help is coming,” Casted Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Democratic House caucus, said in an interview.
“America is a resilient state populated by people who are resistant,” he said. We will continue to rise to the occasion of this pandemic, and we will continue marching towards a more perfect union. Trump-aligned Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene, who gestured to Q-conspiracy Anon’s theories, and Colorado’s gun rights advocate Lauren Boebert, who distributed a letter of support to maintain the right of lawmakers to carry firearms in the Capitol, are among the House Republican newcomers.
Taylor Greene was one of a group of House Republicans led by Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama who, during the holiday season, visited the White House with Trump about their efforts to reverse the election.
