Now that a House speaker has been selected following a dayslong stalemate and members have finally been sworn in, the chamber can look toward picking back up business and organizing GOP-led committees.
Every new Congress must pass a new set of House rules, and doing so will be the top of the 118th Congress’ to-do list when the House reconvenes Monday.
With House Republicans’ majority, comes a newfound power to set the agenda — investigative and legislative.
Legislative agenda: House Republicans will be limited in their ability to pass bills through Congress with Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House — where the president can exercise veto power over legislation. Still, House Republicans will be able to push messaging bills that highlight their agenda.
In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with CNN ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy outlined his plans for power.
Those plans include:
- Tackling inflation
- Rising crime and border security
- He also left the door open to launching eventual impeachment proceedings, which some of his members have already begun to call for
There will also be some must-pass policy issues — like funding the government — that will test the ability of Republicans and Democrats to work together.
Read more about what Republicans plan to do with their new House majority here.
