Every new Congress comes with some level of change (and even dysfunction) as new members are sworn-in and a new legislative agenda is developed. It can be difficult to prepare this early given that the outcome of the election will determine everything from leadership to committee structure. That being said, here is a brief overview of what we know will happen early in the new Congress.
Speaker of the House Vote: When the 119th Congress convenes on January 3, 2025, their first order of business will be to elect a Speaker of the House. If the Speaker is not elected on January 3rd, the Members of Congress will not take the oath of office. The party in control of the House will vote on their nominee for Speaker sometime before the end of this year.
Senate Leadership Elections: Since the full Senate does not vote on elected leaderships positions, each caucus will determine who their leaders are independently. This happens after the election, but before the end of the year. For the 118th Congress, Senate Republicans held their leadership elections in November and Senate Democrats held their leadership elections in December.
Swearing-In & Rules: Members of the House and Senate will take the oath of office on January 3rd. Once that happens, the first order of business will be to pass the rules package, which guides the operations and legislative guidelines of the House (and is drafted by the majority).
Committee Assignments: Committee assignments may take months, not weeks. If there is a change in majority, leadership will need time to negotiate ratios on the committees, which has to be resolved prior to anyone being appointed to the committee. The relevant caucus organizations that determine committee assignments will go through there own process, which will determine committee leadership and rank-and-file membership. This is a complex process that takes a while.
Staff Hiring: New policymakers arrive in DC with very little staff and many wait until knowing their committee assignments before choosing a legislative staff. It can take some time before their Capitol Hill offices are fully staffed, but generally by the end of February they are fairly full.
A new Congress (especially with significant changes) can be a bit hectic. It will be important to be patient, especially in reaching out to new policymakers or committees with new leadership. It will also be important to study how these changes might impact relevant issues; committees (even under the same party control) will not just carry forward the agenda from a previous Chairman.
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