114th Congress Convenes Under Republican Majority

Congress under Republican Leadership expected
to send more bills to President Obama. White
 House threatens veto of Keystone XL Pipeline bill.

Today in Washington, D.C. - Jan. 6, 2015:
The House convened at noon for the 114th Congress. 401 Representatives were present. Rep. Michael G. Grimm (R-NY) sent a letter to the House identifying that he will not serve in the House in the 114th Congress. Grimm has represented New York in the United States Congress since 2011. Grimm pleaded guilty last week to tax evasion

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) Was elected and sworn in again as Speaker of the House. The vote: Election of the Speaker Mr. Boehner 216, Ms. Pelosi 164, Mr. Webster 12, Mr. Gohmert 3, Mr. Yoho 2, Mr. Jordan 2, Mr. Duncan 1, Mr. Powell 1, Mr. Sessions 1, Mr. Paul, Mr. McCarthy 1, Mr. Lewis 1, Mr. Gowdy 1, Mr. DeFazio 1, Mr. Cooper 1, and Present 1.

The Dean of the House administered the Oath of Office to the Speaker-elect. Then Speaker Boehner administered the Oath of Office to the Members-elect of the 114th Congress.

The Senate convened at noon for the 114th Congress.

The Vice President (President of the Senate) called the Senate to order and then swear in newly elected and re-elected senators. After the quorum was established, the President and the House of Representatives are notified, and a President Pro Tempore will be designated. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch will becomes US Senate's president pro tempore which places him third in the line of succession to the presidency, after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Ketucky Senator Mitch McConnell will be the Senate Majority Leader.

Today, the White House said that President Obama would veto a bill that would allow for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. "If this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn’t sign it," said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. Hopefully, Congress will still pass such a bill and we will see if President Obama is really in bed with environmental extremists.

Today, after years of dysfunction and gridlock, the Senate can finally get back to work, as the new Republican majority elected in November is sworn in.

AP: “Republicans assume full control of Congress on Tuesday for the first time in eight years in a day of pomp, circumstance and raw politics. They planned to move swiftly toward a veto showdown with President Barack Obama over the Keystone XL pipeline . . . .”

“With Vice President Joe Biden presiding, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was to automatically ascend to majority leader of the Senate following his approval by rank-and-file Republicans last year. McConnell replaces Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada . . . .”

The Hill: “Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is giving GOP lawmakers more authority right out of the gate, underlining his message that he won’t run the Senate the way Democratic Leader Harry Reid did. . . . McConnell promised last year that he would give his committee chairmen more authority compared to Reid, who irked members of both parties with the way he ran the Senate. . . . McConnell has made breaking what he calls the ‘logjam’ in Washington his No. 1 priority as leader. His strategy for getting the Senate to work again is to allow more votes on amendments, give more power to committee chairmen and have the chamber work longer hours.”

Byron York, of the Washington Examiner: “To outsiders, some of the changes new Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will bring to the Senate might seem like inside baseball. But they could bring about a huge improvement in the way the Senate works. And that could in turn lead to a huge improvement in the way Washington works.” . . . “McConnell's restoration of what is called ‘regular order’ will give both Republican and Democratic lawmakers something they have not had in eight years under Harry Reid: the chance to have actual input into the making of laws. Reid famously used Senate rules and procedures to block most of his fellow senators from offering amendments to bills under consideration. Of course that frustrated minority Republicans, but it also frustrated a lot of majority Democrats, who didn't get to propose changes even though their party controlled the Senate. Now, McConnell promises to open up bills to proposed amendments, both in committee and on the Senate floor.”

Politico: “Mitch McConnell’s decision to kick off the GOP’s new Senate reign with the Keystone XL oil pipeline presents a major test of wills between a strengthened Republican Party and an increasingly go-it-alone White House. . . . McConnell has made allowing an open amendment process a central pillar of his leadership, and the stakes couldn’t be higher: The Kentucky Republican is seeking to fulfill a years-long effort to force a bill approving the highly politicized Canada-to-Texas pipeline onto President Barack Obama’s desk, compelling him to either sign or veto it. Getting Obama to back down would be a big coup for the GOP against a president who has taken increasingly bold executive actions . . .”

“It’s a near-certainty that Congress will be able to pass a Keystone bill, which Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) plans to introduce into the Senate on Tuesday. (The House is taking up a separate version Friday.) . . . . Hoeven, who will file the Senate’s Keystone bill with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), said Republicans are ready for a free-flowing legislative debate. ‘That’s one of the reasons I was able to get Keystone first out of the block. I am comfortable with an open amendment process,’ Hoeven said in an interview Monday.”

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