Republicans in the US secured control of Congress for the next two years. New members will arrive in the House of Representatives and the Senate who will have to go through a transition process until their swearing in on January 3.
Every two years, the halls of the United States Capitol are the scene of hectic moves: outgoing congressmen pack up their offices, while newly elected ones face a transition process with lotteries and special sessions ahead of January 3, the day in which who are sworn into their positions.
After the November general election, Republicans secured the congressional control for the next two years and will face important decisions about the national budget, funding for public programs and other bills.
The Congressional Management Foundation lays out six “critical activities” for a new member: “making decisions about personal circumstances, considering your role as a member of Congress, writing a mission statement, doing preliminary planning, selecting committee preferences, and establishing office operations.” ”.
But what happens in this process?
Induction and orientation
New members of Congress receive an orientation organized by the majority party. This induction includes the delivery of extensive information on Capitol rules, ethics, office management and logistics, according to the Congressional Management Foundation.
Additionally, they must learn how to build their team and manage the resources assigned to them.
The orientation lasts approximately one week and also includes technical training for new members to learn how to operate the electronic voting system and voting tools.
Sometimes they even conduct legislative simulations to practice introducing bills and debating in committees.
An office lottery
The US Congress has multiple buildings in Washington, three are offices of the House of Representatives and three others are for the Senate, in addition to the Capitol itself.
Between both legislative bodies there are more than 600 individual offices, however, only senators have direct assignments. New members of the House of Representatives must go through a lottery that designates their offices.
This lottery process, under congressional rules, ensures a “fair allocation.” Thus, the newly elected person receives a randomly assigned number and this determines the order in which they can choose the spaces.
The numbers are announced in a public session and congressmen are called one by one to select the office of their choice. Those with the first numbers have the best options, such as more spacious offices or with better views.
This year, the lottery occurred on November 21, just days after the election. The winner was the Democratic representative of New York, Laura Gillen, who achieved the coveted “number one.”
The Office of the Architect of the Capitol and the Clerk of the House or Senate oversee the logistics of the transition such as moving furniture, providing technology and ensuring that new members have the necessary resources to begin their work.
The offices of outgoing members must be vacated by January 3.
Committee Assignment
The House of Representatives and the Senate are also made up of different committees focused on issues of national interest such as security, defense, budget, health, among others.
Each member is assigned to different committees based on their professional experience, the region they represent, the party they belong to, and the availability of seats on each committee.
Party leaders must negotiate allocations to ensure there is equal representation between Democrats and Republicans.
New legislators must also hire their work team, which includes advisors, assistants and administrative staff who, ultimately, are in charge of helping the transition process by transferring files and sharing information.
A strict first day
Once this process is completed, Congress is ready for its new cycle, which lasts two years.
The Constitution establishes that Congress meet at noon on January 3 with an agenda that includes: call to order, a prayer, pledge of allegiance, the election of the speaker of the House of Representatives, comments by the president-elect, swearing in of members newly elected and re-elected and the adoption of new rules and resolutions.
In the United States, members of the House of Representatives are elected for two years, while Senators are elected for six.
In the Senate, 12 of the 100 members will be new. The House of Representatives, for its part, will have more than 60 new members. Both bodies will have a Republican majority.