New Congress is sworn in

The House has concluded its quorum call. There are 427 members who are present. There are two Democrats and five Republicans who are not present today.

There are seven absences with two vacancies. One vacancy is GOP Congressman-elect Luke Letlow who died last month after battling Covid-19. The other is New York District 22 which doesn’t have a winner yet.

While Rep. Rodney Davis was seen on the chamber floor, he did not vote. But since he is here, we do expect him to vote later. If this math holds in the later roll call, that means there are 428 members (220 Democrats and 208 Republicans).

Nancy Pelosi, at this point, needs 215 votes to be elected Speaker of the House.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries and House Majority Whip James Clyburn.

Members of House Democratic leadership expressed confidence on Sunday morning in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s chances of being re-elected to the top-ranking position in the new Congress.

Asked in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” how many votes he thinks Pelosi, who is running unopposed, will lose, House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries answered “well, Nancy Pelosi will be the next Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,” noting that that there is “incredible enthusiasm” for the California Democrat to keep her post as she’s been a “historic, legendary legislative leader through incredibly turbulent times.”

House Majority Whip James Clyburn said “yes, yes” when asked on MSNBC if he thought Pelosi would be re-elected as Speaker. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who joined Clyburn in the live interview, could be heard chuckling when Clyburn was asked the question.

CNN has reported that Pelosi has a slim margin for error and will have to count votes carefully to ensure that she can avoid any embarrassment on the House floor, facing the Democrats’ smallest majority in decades, a pandemic that could hinder attendance and some in her caucus agitating for new leadership, as well as unified Republican resistance.

Jeffries said Pelosi will continue to take a “big tent approach” to governing with her diverse narrow Democratic majority, adding that the party has used this strategy “not just internally” in recent years.

The New York Democrat went on to list the areas where the party has worked with President Trump, including criminal justice reform, USMCA and the end of surprise medical billing.

“We continue to stand with President Trump, for instance, as he pushes for $2000 direct stimulus payments,” he said.

Addressing the rules package that the 117th Congress will vote on this week, Jeffries said he would not interpret the proposed expansion of the Houses’ subpoena and investigative powers as “an effort to look backward” at the Trump presidency.

“The House is a separate and coequal branch of government. At the end of the day, we don’t work for any president, whether that’s a Democrat or Republican, whether it’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden,” he said. 

The Senate has finished its work for the day and adjourned. All the new senators and re-elected senators have been sworn in.

The Senate will return on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET, at which point they’ll go into a joint session with the House of Representatives to process the Electoral College certification and deal with expected challenges. 

The Senate mock swearing-ins are still getting set up and planned to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET in the Old Senate Chamber. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 3.

The 117th Congress gaveled in Sunday with the first vote to be the election of the Speaker of the House. There are 222 Democrats and 213 Republicans in this new Congress.

CNN has found there are two Republicans who are likely to miss Sunday’s votes. CNN has reached out to confirm.

These members include GOP Congressman-elect David Valadao, who has Covid-19, GOP Congresswoman-elect Maria Elvira Salazar, who also has Covid-19. GOP Congressman-elect Luke Letlow died last month after battling Covid-19.

GOP Rep. Ron Wright of Texas, who has cancer and has missed votes in the past, is planning to attend Sunday’s votes as well, according to his office. Two Democrats who recently announced they tested positive with Covid-19 are coming to Sunday’s votes.

Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen, who tested positive with Covid-19 last month, will attend Sunday’s votes, per his office. His office said his 10-day isolation period ended on Friday, Jan. 1.

And Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore, who announced Monday she had Covid-19, will attend Sunday’s votes. Her spokesperson told CNN she “has worked with doctors and she is safe to travel.”  Her office did not respond to a request for comment on when she learned she had Covid-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who are infected with Covid-19 or had symptoms stay away from other people – self-isolate – for at least 10 days after symptoms start. They can leave isolation after 10 days if they have no fever without the use of fever reducing medications such as ibuprofen or Tylenol and if other symptoms are improving.

Current House membership is 434 with the death of Letlow. But as of right now, with today’s likely absences, the voting membership is 432. So Nancy Pelosi will need one more than half of those voting, which is 217 votes, to retain speakership. Any “present” vote by a member is considered a nonvote and will reduce the number of total Pelosi will need to keep the gavel.

There are 10 Democrats who opposed Pelosi in 2019 who are still around:

CNN’s Alex Rogers and Lauren Fox reported that Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Maine Rep. Jared Golden have already said they do not plan on voting for Pelosi.

And a handful of moderate and progressive Democrats, including Spanberger and Reps.-elect Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York, have declined to say how they would vote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks on the Senate floor on Sunday, January 3.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell welcomed all senators on the first day of the 117th Congress.

“Today six new members are joining our ranks for the first time,” he said, adding congratulatory wishes to “all our new colleagues and their families.”

“We gavel in today like 116 prior Senates have gaveled in before us, with plenty of disagreements and policy differences among our ranks, but all, all swearing the same oath,” the Kentucky Republican said.

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There are House members in the US Capitol Sunday who would normally be in quarantine after being exposed to Covid-19.

While these members have tested negative, according to a Capitol official, Capitol Hill physician Brian Monahan says they are participating Sunday through a “secure enclosure” in order “to ensure continuity of operations of essential functions” and “are permitted to continue work following potential exposure to COVID-19 provided they remain asymptomatic and additional precautions are implemented to protect them and the community.”

The Capitol official says there are two Democrats and one Republican who are participating through a secure enclosure and would ordinarily be in quarantine.

The official would not disclose the names of the lawmakers.

The lawmakers would normally be able to vote by proxy but the rules in the new Congress must first be passed in order to re-establish that procedure.

The House takes a quorum call vote on Sunday.

The US House is now taking a quorum call vote to establish the quorum with members who are there in person voting “present.”

They are voting in groups of 72 for social distancing. 

More on today’s Covid-19 measures: The first day of the new Congress will look a bit different this year with safety precautions in place to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of senators sworn in at a time will be smaller to minimize crowding and senators are expected to take their oaths of office in groups of two to allow for social distancing.

Representatives will also be sworn in by groups, though the size will be far larger given how many more House members there are, with members-elect to be sworn in first.

Newly elected lawmakers often bring multiple family members to witness their swearing in and be part of photos commemorating the occasion. This year, though, members-elect will be permitted to have only one family member in the House gallery to watch the proceedings.

Vice President Mike Pence swears in senators on January 3 in Washington, DC.

Vice President Mike Pence is elbow-bumping senators after swearing them in two at a time — instead of four at a time because of Covid-19 concerns.  

Family members in the gallery overlooking the chamber are spread far apart but it appears family members are able to sit together.

This is the alphabetical list for people being sworn in:

The House and Senate chambers are convening right now. The 117th Congress will officially be sworn in later today.

The Constitution calls for Congress to convene on January 3 at noon ET — the reason for the rare Sunday session.

Newly elected and returning members will take the oath of office and the full House of Representatives will vote to elect a new Speaker. Nancy Pelosi, who has served as House speaker in the 116th Congress, is on track to remain in the role.

Pelosi has a slim margin for error on Sunday. After serving 17 years as the House Democratic leader, Pelosi is running unopposed. But she will have to count votes carefully to ensure that she can avoid any embarrassment on the House floor, facing the Democrats’ smallest majority in decades, a pandemic that could hinder attendance and some in her caucus agitating for new leadership, as well as unified Republican resistance.

In order to win the speakership, a member must receive a majority of votes. In 2018, 15 Democrats defected from Pelosi but she can only afford to lose a few in 2021. After losing a dozen seats in 2020, House Democrats are likely to control around 222 seats next term.

Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Maine Rep. Jared Golden have already said they do not plan on voting for her. And a handful of moderate and progressive Democrats, including Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Reps.-elect Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York, have declined to say how they would vote.

House Democrats kept control of the House in the November elections, but will now have a narrower majority after suffering a string of losses, despite projections that they would win more seats. House Republicans, meanwhile, outperformed expectations and are now poised to add a significant number of GOP women to their ranks in the new Congress.

In the Senate, the balance of power still has yet to be decided with all eyes on a pair of Senate runoff elections taking place in Georgia on January 5 that will determine which party controls the chamber.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sent a “Dear Colleague” letter ahead of the election for speaker later today.

Some context: After serving 17 years as Democrats’ leader, Pelosi is running unopposed. But the looming threat of coronavirus paired with the Democrats’ smallest majority in decades means Pelosi and her deputies are carefully counting votes to ensure she can avoid any embarrassment on the House floor.