Some college bowling games are canceled. The NFL is struggling to end its regular season without canceling a game. People celebrated the holidays at Zoom.
However, the 117th Congress begins on Sunday at noon, Eastern time. The Constitution determines this. And everyone has to be there personally.
The Chamber and the Senate remained in session concluding the 116th Congress during most holidays. Lawmakers flirted with the government shutdown. I finally finished a COVID relief package. The House overturned President Trump’s veto of the annual defense bill and, at the President’s request, approved a $ 2,000 direct stimulus bill shortly after Christmas.
There was a time earlier this month when the majority leader in the House, Steny Hoyer (D-MD), intended to end everything by December 11th so that members could go home and quarantine, spend time with their families , quarantine again, and return to Washington on January 3 to comply with DC health guidelines.
But any pantomime of trying to remotely comply with local health clauses went out the window with Congressional programming this month. And so everyone in the House of Representatives has come and gone between their districts several times in the past few weeks.
The assistant physician at the Capitol Office sent a memo a few days ago that “Spouses or children accompanying the member may be required to show a copy of their negative COVID test prior to travel at companies that extend accommodation or other services” if they were coming to DC for the opening day.
DEMOCRATS LEARN AT MCCONNELL’S STIMULUS BLOCK IN THE CLIMATE OF GEORGIA
The opening day is usually a festive event with receptions in office buildings and thousands of family and friends coming down to the Capitol. The Chamber is keeping this year’s event as discreet as possible. Freshmen receive only one ticket for a guest to attend the gallery’s ceremonies. The Chamber will not issue a guest ticket to returning members.
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A memo from Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving and Assistant Physician Dr. Brian Monahan says that guests accompanying freshmen must be quarantined before traveling to DC and taking a COVID test three to five days in advance. Note that the memo just came out this week. Legislators have been warned that access to the House floor is “limited to Members who must speak during the debate”.
Starting the new Congress is inherently complicated in a pandemic. The House of Representatives implemented “remote voting” in the spring. It is where the House has allowed members who were at high risk, quarantined, tested positive or caring for someone who is sick, to “call” to vote. The Chamber will eventually vote on a new “rules package” to start the new Congress, which will include a remote voting option. But in the Chamber, you cannot transfer the rules from the 116th Congress to the 117th Congress.
That’s why everyone has to show up at noon on January 3rd.
This raises an interesting ethical question:
Is it appropriate for members with a positive test, who have been quarantined or exposed, to be present on January 3?
Here’s what to expect in the House on January 3:
Nothing constituted the House until that moment. There is no speaker. House Secretary Cheryl Johnson presides. The first order of business is a quorum call to get everyone there – in a pandemic style.
Under normal circumstances, all 435 elected members of the House would flock to the House to vote electronically and register their presence. But during the coronavirus, the Chamber will summon members to the chambers in seven groups of about 72 people. The first installment begins with Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) and passes through Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX). The seventh and final group goes from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) to Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY).
Members are instructed to report to the chamber, register their presence and leave.
The House is expected to start with 433 members and two seats: 222 Democrats and 211 Republicans. Places are in the 22nd district of New York and the 5th district of Louisiana. There is still no race call in the dispute between the current Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY) and the former Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY). In Louisiana, congressman-elect Luke Letlow (R-LA) died of complications related to the coronavirus.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has indicated that she will nominate elected Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) after her six-vote victory over Democrat Rita Hart. But Hart asked the House Administration to investigate the outcome of this dispute.
This is where it can get interesting.
Representatives Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Rick Larsen (D-WA) recently tested positive for coronavirus. It is unclear whether they will be healthy enough to appear on opening day. And it is not known whether other legislators or those elected to the 117th Congress will be present or not.
You enter the field on the 3rd of January with the players at your disposal. That’s why, in a pandemic era, it’s possible – possible – that if Democrats don’t have the right numbers, Republicans can – could – really has the majority.
We always say it’s about math. It’s about math. It’s about math. Well, the math really affairs on January 3. The side with the most members present on January 3 will be in the majority.
Period.
Is there a way around this? It is not clear. It could be argued that Democrats could extend the initial quorum convocation, starting the new Congress, for as long as necessary (days?) Until they have enough people there. But this is just speculation.
The only thing that really matters to know which side has the most votes is what comes next: the election of the President. Nothing can happen in the Chamber until a President is elected.
Nothing.
And anything can happen during a pandemic. Even Pelosi said that his enemy in the Speaker’s race is COVID.
The successful candidate for president obtains an absolute majority of the entire House. Not a majority of the votes. So, if the House starts with 433 members and everyone is there, Pelosi needs 217 members to vote for her. So if the Democrats are 222 and they all show up, the president can only lose five votes. Pelosi lost 15 votes in the speaker competition in January 2019.
Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN) voted in 2019. But Cooper now says he will vote for Pelosi. MP Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) voted “present” in 2019. Slotkin says she cannot support Pelosi. The Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Jared Golden (D-ME) voted for Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) two years ago.
Is that why some wonder if it would be possible for the House to elect minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) or someone else as a speaker?
It is unlikely, but it will all come down to mathematics.
What if no candidate gets 217 votes? The Chamber continues to vote until it chooses a President. A vote for President has not been a second vote since 1923. Mayor, Frederick Gillett (R-MA), finally prevailed in the fourth vote.
The Chamber burned two months and 133 ballots in 1856 before finally deciding that Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts was fit to be the mayor.
We only know that it will take a long time to end all of this. But we are told that Sunday can be a very long day. And a confused day, potentially with surprises induced by the pandemic.