09 January 2009
Experienced Congressional Leaders Set To Tackle Huge Challenges
Democrats expand their partisan advantage as 111th Congress begins work
Washington — The legislative branch of the U.S. government is renewed every odd-numbered year in January as new members elected the previous November join their colleagues in convening a new session, but this year Congress will face a special set of challenges.
In 2009, the 111th Congress will be working with a new president — one elected on a platform of “change” — whose Democratic Party holds an enhanced majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Congress and the president face a daunting array of domestic and foreign policy challenges, with a deepening recession and growing budget deficits at home, two simultaneous wars taxing U.S. military resources abroad and a renewed crisis in the Middle East.
Topping the legislative agenda will be an economic stimulus package that could cost between $750 billion and $1 trillion, with House leaders aiming to pass the complex plan by the middle of February. The 111th Congress also aims to review and enact legislation on a wide range of other pressing topics, including security, health care, education and the environment.
PARTY LINES
Thus far, the new Congress includes nine new senators, seven of them Democrats, and 54 freshman members of the House (32 Democrats and 22 Republicans), but uncertainty remains about the final roster: As the new Congress convened, the ultimate occupants of several seats remain unknown.
The leadership in both chambers is largely unchanged from 2008.
In the House, Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California) continues to serve as speaker — the official who decides what measures will reach the floor for debate and a vote. Steny Hoyer of Maryland continues in the Number 2 spot of majority leader, and James Clyburn of South Carolina stays on as majority whip.
All three were first elected to those posts in 2007, after their party won control in the 2006 elections. Pelosi, the first woman to serve as speaker, is second in the line of succession to the presidency, ranking behind only the vice president.
Among Republicans, John Boehner of Ohio remains minority leader, while Eric Cantor of Virginia takes over the position of minority whip.
In the Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada continues to lead the majority, and Richard Durbin of Illinois remains majority whip. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky stays on as leader of the Republican minority, with Jon Kyl of Arizona as minority whip.
EXPANDED DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY
The 2008 election saw the Democrats’ majorities expand in both chambers.
In the 435-member House, they have increased their majority to 256-178, from the 235-198 edge they enjoyed in the 110th Congress.
One seat is vacant because Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois resigned to become President-elect Obama’s White House chief of staff. That congressional post will be filled in a special election scheduled for April 7.
Democrats have a substantial edge in the Senate as well, holding 57 seats in the 100-member body — counting two independents who vote with the Democrats — as the body convened January 6. That number could rise to 59, depending on the resolution of situations in Minnesota and Illinois.
SOME SENATORS YET TO BE DETERMINED
In Minnesota, initial election results showed the incumbent Republican senator, Norm Coleman, defeating Democratic challenger Al Franken by 215 votes with almost 3 million votes cast. A mandatory recount completed in January gave the edge to Franken, a former television writer and comedian, by 225 votes, but Coleman’s court challenge could delay a final decision for months.
In Illinois, Governor Rod Blagojevich has named Roland Burris, a former state attorney general, to the Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Obama, but he has not yet been seated because Senate rules require an incoming senator to present a certification from his or her secretary of state, a document Burris lacks. The Illinois secretary of state refused to certify the appointment due to concerns that Blagojevich’s arrest on federal corruption charges should disqualify him from making the selection and has tainted anyone he appointed. (Blagojevich has not been indicted or tried.)
As the session began, efforts to reach a solution that would permit Burris to be seated were gaining momentum.
Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner has named Ted Kaufman, former Senate chief of staff to incoming Vice President Joseph Biden, to replace Biden when he resigns from the Senate on January 20. Two other Democrats will have to be replaced if they are confirmed in Cabinet posts: Hillary Clinton of New York, prospective secretary of state, and Ken Salazar of Colorado, chosen for secretary of the interior.
The new Congress is approximately as diverse as its predecessor. The 111th Congress now includes 95 women — 78 in the House and 17 in the Senate. According to the Congressional Research Service, there are 41 African Americans, 31 Hispanic Americans, 11 Asian Americans (which includes Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) and one American Indian.
