New Congress to be sworn in

On Thursday, the 535 members of the new 116th Congress in Washington D On Thursday, the 535 members of the new 116th Congress in Washington D.C. solemnly swear to govern the nation. Instantly, the new Congress will make history for seating a record number of women and becoming the most racially and ethnically diverse. Republicans will take more seats in the Senate, while Democrats will grab control of the House. In the 435-member House, the election of a new Speaker of the House will take place (probably Nancy Pelosi) followed shortly by the swearing in of all the House members at the same time. In the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence will preside over the oath-taking of the 34 members who stood for election on November 6. The Constitution mandates that Congress convene at noon on January 3, unless the preceding Congress by law designated a different day. This is why today is when the Congress is sworn in and begins the new term.

The Congressional Oath Lawmakers will take this oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

In Other News As the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, Rep.-elect Rashida Tlaib , D-Mich., will take the oath on a Quran, and not just anyone’s. She’ll use a 1734 English translation that belonged to Thomas Jefferson. (She and incoming Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota will also be the first two Muslim women ever elected to Congress). Democratic Reps. Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland will be the first Native American women elected to Congress. In all, 127 women — 106 Democrats 21 Republicans — will serve in the 116th Congress, holding nearly 24 percent of all seats, according to the Center for Women and Politics at Rutgers University. In the Senate, 25 women will serve, with 17 of them Democrats and eight Republicans. China has successfully landed a rover on the far side of the moon, Chinese state media announced Thursday, a huge milestone for the nation as it attempts to position itself as a leading space power. China is one of three nations to carry out a lunar landing, the United States and Russia are the others. What started as an egg-throwing prank in suburban Houston, Texas, ended with a 14-year-old facing a murder charge after the SUV he was driving plowed into a truck and killed a woman. The fatal crash occurred Tuesday afternoon when the 14-year-old, with two other juveniles as passengers (who were reportedly throwing eggs at other cars before the crash), drove a GMC Arcadia at a high speed through a red light and struck a Ford pickup truck. The Ford's driver, identified as 45-year-old Silvia Zavala, was dead at the scene when paramedics arrived. The unidentified 14-year-old driver, who broke an ankle in the crash, was charged with murder and booked into the county juvenile detention center.