Letters from Capitol Hill that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.
Hill Rats Return for the 119th
Some of us never left. And we never will.
Alongside a soon-to-be-reinstated Trump administration, 2025 is shaping up to be the year of the 2.0, with Reps. Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY) once again elected today to serve as Speaker and Minority Leader, respectively, by the slimmest party margins in nearly a century.
Closing the 118th sine die, Members opened the 119th Session of Congress at an adjusted 218-215 R’s to Dems due to a last-minute resignation and several vacancies shorting the statutorily prescribed 435 House Members.
Holding the vote open just long enough to flip two Republican defectors after nearly all the ultra-conservatives acquiesced, Johnson quickly closed the first order of business for the fresh Congress on the first ballot, securing Speakership for at least another day.
Reps. Keith Self (R-TX) and Ralph Norman (R-SC), who initially voted for other candidates, switched to Johnson after talks with the speaker’s allies. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the lone Republican dissenter.
Should his Grand ‘Ole Party decide to strip Johnson of the gavel, by his swift action on the second order of business, Members will have a harder time than previous Congressional classes, with a Rules package adopted following the leadership vote.
Traditionally ratified at the outset of each new Congress to set the terms for legislative engagement, this year’s Rules package raises the threshold to nine Members of the majority party to trigger a vote to remove the House Speaker.
Approved by a vote of 215-209, this Rules change prevents a single Member from introducing a privileged measure to oust the Speaker - the same maneuver that brought down former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in October 2023.
Negotiated as part of an internal GOP deal, the Rules change also prevents Democrats from introducing or cosponsoring a resolution for removal of the Speaker.
Furthermore, the House limited the days leaders can seek to pass legislation under suspension of the Rules - a fast track process, where a bill needs a two-thirds bipartisan majority, but not a party-line procedural vote, to pass. This mechanism was most recently used to fund the government.
In other words, Speaker Johnson can only entertain a motion to suspend the Rules on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays under the new package.
Among these new procedural protections and foundations for policy discourse, the Rules package renames several House committees, including changing House Oversight and Accountability back to to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Additionally, the House Education and the Workforce Committee is down a definite article, now to be known as the House Education and Workforce Committee.
The Rules package also extends the special panel on U.S. competition with China, permits electronic voting at the committee level, and directs the House to integrate AI into its operations and functions.
Under these Rules, the AI efforts would need to incorporate appropriate guardrails and principles outlined by House Information Technology Policy (HITPOL) 8, a framework for AI policy the House Administration panel approved in August 2024.
The measure further requires the House to explore the uses of AI to streamline administrative processes and enhance decision-making capabilities for House staff, and to explore AI tools that support the drafting, analysis, and comparison of legislative texts.
Outlining priorities and opening forums for debate on federal policy - despite being closed to amendments from Members in any party - the Rules package included 12 draft bills for introduction to kick off the new Congress:
A bill requiring participation in women’s athletic programs in schools under Title IX to be based solely on an individual’s sex assigned at birth.
A bill instructing Homeland Security to detain non-U.S. citizens arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.
A bill making noncitizens who commit sex offenses, domestic violence, and related crimes inadmissible to, and deportable from, the U.S.
A bill making the assault of a law enforcement officer a deportable offense.
A bill blocking federal funding for “sanctuary cities” failing to comply with the enforcement of immigration laws to provide benefits to noncitizens unlawfully present in the U.S.
A bill imposing new criminal penalties on drivers who intentionally flee from U.S. Border Patrol agents or other law enforcement officers.
A bill requiring heath-care providers to perform necessary medical care to a child who survives an abortion attempt.
A bill imposing sanctions on individuals involved in International Criminal Court prosecutions against U.S. nationals or citizens of U.S. allies unconsented to ICC jurisdictions.
A bill amending the U.S. tax code to reduce double taxation for individuals and businesses in both the U.S. and Taiwan.
A bill requiring voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
A bill permanently classifying fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.
A bill prohibiting federal moratoriums on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Whether all of these bills will come to bear in a full floor vote in the House remains to be seen.
MEANWHILE, IN THE DELIBERATIVE BODY…
Handling elections before the December holidays, the self-declared-superior Senate had a less dramatic day, with Republicans formally taking the majority in the Upper Chamber after netting four seats last Nov.
ICYMI, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stepped down as Leader (but not from office), and the north end of the Capitol will have a new face running the Senate floor for the first time in nearly seven Sessions:
Newly affirmed Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) now has the power to set the chamber’s schedule, including the installation of President-Elect Trump’s cabinet.
Working alongside Senate-Staffer-Matchmaker-In-Residence and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the new Majority Leader pledged to preserve the filibuster… “the Senate rule that today has perhaps the greatest impact in preserving the Founders’ vision of the United States Senate,” Thune said in a statement.
Promising a Session of action and advising Members to “Get ready to work,” the Senate calendar includes a block of 10 straight working weeks without recess. Sen. Thune’s introductory agenda focuses on border security and “extending tax relief that Republicans delivered during the first Trump administration.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 91, was sworn in Friday as president pro tempore.
Looking ahead this Session, Senate Republican leaders said they plan to bring two packages to the floor through reconciliation - a process that cannot be filibustered. The first would focus on border, defense, and energy, and a second on spending and tax cuts.
Looking ahead to next week, Congress is set to certify the election results on Jan. 6, and D.C. is bracing for up to five inches of snow. In a city where a powdered sugar dusting of snow shutters the streets, should this forecast come to fruition, the certification may be delayed.
____
Jan. 04 | From the Office of the Majority Leader Steve Scalise
On Monday, Jan. 6, the House will meet at noon for legislative business. Members are advised that votes are possible during the Joint Session.
Joint Session to Count Electoral Votes
TUESDAY, JANUARY 7 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 11:00 a.m. for legislative business. On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:30 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes expected no later than 3:00 p.m.
Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule:
H.R. 29 – Laken Riley Act (Sponsored by Rep. Collins / Judiciary Committee)
H.R. 23 – Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (Sponsored by Rep. Roy / Foreign Affairs Committee)
____
Jan. 03 | Don’t Let the Gaetz Hit ‘Ya
To a round of applause in the People’s Chamber this afternoon, the U.S. House clerk entered a letter from former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz into the record saying he will not serve in the 119th Congress.
____
Jan. 03 | Let Freedom Write
The Board of the House Freedom Caucus released the attached letter to their Republican colleagues regarding today's vote for Speaker.
____
Jan. 02 | From the First State
U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-DE.) today applauded President Joe Biden for posthumously presenting the Presidential Citizens Medal to two civil rights advocates from the First State.
____
Dec. 25 | Dated 1779
Letter from George Washington to the President of Congress in Support of Service of Elizabeth Burgin Regarding the Request for Rations.
____
Dec. 19 | New Old News
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees, sent a letter to Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) urging the GAO to review the implications of global aging on U.S. foreign humanitarian and development assistance and U.S. national security broadly.
____
Want to receive Proxenos' Hill Letters updates as they're published?