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 allowed members who were at high risk, quarantined, tested positive or caring for someone who is sick to “call” to vote. The House will vote on Monday for 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 today.
This raises an interesting ethical question:
Is it appropriate for members with a positive test, who have been quarantined or exposed, to be present today?
Here’s what to expect from the Chamber today.
First, the Chamber must take care of old matters. The Chamber meets for the last time at 10 am ET and closes the 116th Congress. The new 117th Congress starts at noon, under the Constitution.
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Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., An ordained United Methodist pastor, will lead the opening prayer to begin the new session.
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 tranche begins with Rep. Alma Adams, DN.C., and goes to Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas. The seventh and final group runs from Rep. Joe Wilson, RS.C., to Rep. Lee Zeldin, RN.Y.
Members are instructed to report to the chamber, register their presence and leave. We hope it will take until shortly after 2 pm Eastern Time to establish the quorum.
Note exactly how many members appear for the quorum. This will be crucial because it will dictate the size of the Chamber to begin with and how many votes Mayor Nancy Pelosi, D-California, needs to return to the President’s suite.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, December 30, 2020, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin)
The Chamber will receive Speaker nominations at around 2:30 pm ET. The president of the Caucus Democratic Chamber, Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., will nominate Pelosi. Republican House Speaker Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Will appoint House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
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The Chamber will then initiate a manual call with members entering the chamber, again, in groups, and verbally announcing their vote. This will take until 17:30 ET or later.
We expect the election of the speaker sometime between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm. Presumably, Pelosi wins and will be sworn in by the Dean of the House (the oldest member), Rep. Don Young, R-Ark. Pelosi, for his part, takes over from Young and starts cursing members in groups of 72 members.
The Chamber will observe a moment of silence to observe the death of the late elected deputy Luke Letlow, R-La., Who died of complications related to the coronavirus.
The House is expected to start with 432 members and three seats: 222 Democrats and 210 Republicans. Vacancies are in the 22nd district of New York, the 5th district of Louisiana and the 27th district of Florida – but the latter will be filled soon. There is still no race call in the contest between the current Rep. Anthony Brindisi, DN.Y., and the former Rep. Claudia Tenney, RN.Y. The elected deputy Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., Indicates that she will not be present to take the oath. That’s how we got at least three seats to start the new Congress, possibly more. Salazar can be sworn in as soon as his health permits. And the House could pass a resolution later this week allowing Salazar to take an oath outside the Capitol. This has happened before.
Pelosi has indicated that she will put elected MP Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, 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.
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You enter the field today with the players you have available. That is why, in a pandemic era, it is possible – possible – that if Democrats did not have the right numbers, Republicans could – could – in fact have a majority.
We always say it’s about math. It’s about math. It’s about math. Well, math really matters today. The side with the most members present today is the majority.
Period.
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 speaker is elected.
Nothing.
And anything can happen during a pandemic. Even Pelosi said his enemy in the speaker’s race is COVID.
The successful speaker candidate obtains an absolute majority of the entire House, not a majority of the votes. So, if the House starts with 432 members and everyone is there, Pelosi needs 217 members to vote for her. If the Democrats are in 222 and all appear, the president can only lose five votes. Pelosi lost 15 votes in the speaker competition in January 2019.
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Deputy Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., Voted present in 2019. But Cooper now says he will vote for Pelosi. Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Voted “present” in 2019. Slotkin says he cannot support Pelosi. The representatives Abigail Spanberger, D-Va. And Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted for Congressman Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., Two years ago.
That is why some wonder if it would be possible for the House to elect McCarthy or someone else as a speaker.
This scenario is unlikely. But it will all come down to mathematics.
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What if no candidate gets 217 votes? The Chamber continues to vote until it chooses a speaker. A vote for president has not been a second vote since 1923. Mayor, Frederick Gillett, R-Mass., 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 speaker.
It will take a long time to finish all of this, and Sunday can be a very long and confusing day, potentially with pandemic-induced surprises.