What to know about the new Congress
- Rep. Mike Johnson was elected as House speaker during the first round of ballots by a razor-thin margin of 218-215.
- Three Republicans initially defected from Johnson: Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Keith Self of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Norman and Self switched their votes to Johnson after briefly meeting with him.
- Massie voted for Majority Whip Tom Emmer. Every House Democrat voted for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
- Republicans now officially control the House and Senate and members have been sworn in. Congress will meet again Monday to certify President-elect Donald Trump's election win -- four days before he is sentenced in the New York hush money case.
- With a slim majority in the House, Republicans may face some tough battles to pass legislation. Any dissent from within the caucus could doom a vote, while Democrats will be needed to pass most legislation in the Senate.
Johnson says House will move Trump budget bill in ‘early January’
Speaker Mike Johnson told NBC News this evening that House Republicans will move a budget resolution in “early January” and start crafting party-line legislation to advance Trump’s agenda.
“We’re already working on it,” he said.
But he didn’t say whether they’ll pursue one bill or two through the reconciliation process.
“Stay tuned. I’ll let you know,” he said.
House passes new rules package — without transgender bathroom ban
The House passed its new rules for the 119th Congress tonight on a vote of 215-209.
The package will make it harder for opponents to oust Johnson in the middle of the term. The rules raise the threshold to remove a speaker from office from just one member last Congress to nine members of the majority party (in this case Republicans).
The rules do not include language from Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., backed by Johnson, to ban transgender women from using female bathrooms in the Capitol.
Mace has said that her effort “absolutely” was meant to target freshman Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., who was elected in November and is now the first openly transgender member of Congress. Mace has repeatedly misgendered McBride while pushing for the ban.
McBride has called the effort “a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing.”
Trump himself recently told Time magazine that he agreed with McBride that, as Time phrased it, “we should all be focused on more important issues."
Mace said last year she hoped the ban would be included in the Rules package. Asked about the omission, Mace said it is already “House policy,” referring to Johnson’s statement in November that “all single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.”
When pressed, Mace said that she plans to re-introduce legislation to try to codify that policy this Congress.
Speaker Johnson on how he flipped his critics
Asked how he flipped GOP holdouts to win the speakership, Johnson said he assured his colleagues that the conference will operate under “member-driven” leadership.
“I’ve been aiming to decentralize the speaker’s office’s power since I first had the gavel. We’ll continue that," he told reporters. "We want to be member-driven and empower the chairs of our committees and all of that.”
Johnson also praised Trump as “the most powerful president, certainly of the modern era, maybe in all of American history” and added that his endorsement was a “big factor in this.”
Asked if he would have Trump’s support over the next two years, Johnson said, “yes.”
On whether he will remain speaker during that time, Johnson said, “100%, yes.”
JD Vance has 'minor' sinus surgery
After attending the swearings-in of new senators today, Vice President-elect JD Vance went in for a “long-planned” surgery, a spokesperson for his team told NBC News.
“The Vice President-elect is having long-planned, minor sinus surgery and will be back to work tomorrow,” William Martin said in a statement.
Fox News first reported on the planned procedure.
Vance, until he resigns to take office as vice president, remains a senator from Ohio. He briefly will be the state's senior senator, following the swearing-in today of fellow Republican Bernie Moreno, who defeated Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in November.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will appoint Vance's successor.
Rep. Virginia Foxx says she's 'just fine' after falling down on Capitol steps
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., fell down a marble staircase outside the House chamber but is OK, according to a spokesperson from Foxx’s office.
Foxx, who is 81, slipped while walking down the staircase after walking up to talk to her family in the gallery.
“After being helped to her feet, and looked over by medical personnel, she proceeded on her own to the Attending Physician’s office to get treated for a few individual cuts. Everything seems to be okay,” Alex Ives, a spokesperson for Foxx, said in a statement.
Foxx confirmed she was “just fine” in a post on X.
“Thank you to everyone for your prayers — just a few small cuts and I’m doing just fine,” Foxx wrote.
“I’m a mountain woman, and we’re tougher than a $2 steak,” she added.
Trump held at least two calls with GOP holdouts before tally was finalized, Rep. Ralph Norman says
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who initially voted against Johnson in the speaker race, talked about what flipped his vote to Johnson before the tally was announced.
Norman told NBC News that Trump spoke on two calls before the vote was finalized. In the first one, Rep. Nancy Mace handed Norman the phone with Trump on the line, Norman said, adding that he “interrupted” Trump’s golf game.
During the second Trump call, the phone was on speakerphone with Johnson, Norman and Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, all present.
Trump talked about the power of the GOP holding a trifecta via control over the White House and both chambers of Congress, Norman said.
“You don’t get that opportunity,” Trump said, according to Norman.
Norman also said that it was not Trump, but rather Johnson "assuring" him, that convinced him to switch his vote before the tabulation was finalized.
Johnson: Trump's support was a 'big factor' in winning speakership
Johnson said Trump’s support was a “big factor” in his election as speaker.
“He wants us to unify as a conference and to get the job done and we must,” Johnson told reporters as he walked through the Capitol.
Johnson reiterated that he made no promises to members in exchange for their support but “told them they can be assured that we’re going to have different processes and procedures this time around, because it’s unified government” with Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.
“We’re going to have a member-driven, bottom-up process for the development of this really important legislation,” Johnson said. “And we must succeed. We have no margin for error. So, that’s all it was. No promises, nothing.”
Rep. Keith Self, of Texas, initially a Republican holdout who ultimately voted for Johnson, referred to those concerns in explaining his frustrations with Johnson's leadership.
“I was very frustrated with the 118th Congress, and that’s why we needed to shore up the processes to make it more member-oriented for the Trump agenda, because we needed more input from members like myself, not a chairman, not a leadership position, and I think that’s what we have done,” Self said.
But Trump himself has remained steadfast in his support of Johnson's speakership bid, congratulating Johnson after he won the gavel and saying he would make a "Great Speaker."
Sen. John Thune says Speaker Mike Johnson has a ‘really tough job’ ahead with a thin GOP majority
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the incoming Senate majority leader, said today that Johnson will have “a really, really tough job,” navigating a narrow majority.
“I think he has been responsive to his members, but he’s got a lot of folks that are headed in different directions,” Thune said during an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker that took place as the House was selecting a new speaker. “I mean, as you know, that with a narrow margin like that, any individual member of the House of Representatives can have a huge impact.”
Thune also said that he and Johnson could have a “strong working relationship,” even though the two men haven’t worked closely before.
Senators prepare for high-profile confirmation votes
The Senate will soon start considering Trump's Cabinet picks and other administration posts, with some expected to face tougher votes than others.
Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary, has been embattled over concerns about his alcohol use and an allegation of sexual assault. Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News host, called the allegations false and said last year he would stop drinking if confirmed by the Senate.
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, has also faced backlash over her comments on Russia and a secret visit to Syria to meet with its then-dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Trump's first choice for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, backed out after misconduct allegations against him resurfaced. He withdrew in November and Trump said he would nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi instead. Bondi is expected to be confirmed.
Some of Trump's other picks are likely to sail through the confirmation process, including Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Elise Stefanik as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Key Republican says Senate should move quickly but not be 'sloppy' in vetting Trump's picks
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said the new Republican-controlled Senate should move quickly to process Trump's Cabinet picks but also thoroughly vet them.
"I do think that we need to move quickly. That doesn’t mean we can be sloppy or that we won’t do our job," Curtis said today during a virtual press conference when asked about Senate Majority Leader John Thune's recent statement that the New Orleans terrorist attack underscored that Trump's national security teams should be quickly confirmed.
"Until I really have a chance to go through that entire process, I’m being careful to make any decisions myself until I have all the facts on every candidate," Curtis said.
Curtis is a key senator to watch in the vetting process as he begins his first Senate term. He has not said whether he will back Trump's Cabinet choices, raising some concerns about Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary, and Kash Patel, whom Trump has tapped to lead the FBI.
Curtis noted he has met with both Hegseth and Patel and asked them "really tough questions" and is "continuing to study them."
