A few new faces are representing Pennsylvania in Congress.
With the 119th Congress being sworn in on Jan 3, Pennsylvania’s delegation will have a few new faces. Those new faces will have to deal with some old problems.
Among the new members are Congressman-elect Ryan Mackenzie, Rep-elect Rob Bresnahan, and Senator-elect Dave McCormick. All three are Republicans.
Mackenzie has been tapped to sit on the Education and Workforce, Foreign Affairs, and Homeland Security Committees. He told local outlets he will use his seat on these committees to create “more economic opportunities, lower prices, secure borders and a foreign policy that puts our country first.”
Rep-elect Bresnahan will serve on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Agriculture, and Small Business Committees. Bresnahan said his business experience as an electrical contractor help him “understand the importance of our infrastructure needs.”
Senator-elect McCormick will serve on the Senate Banking, Energy and Natural Resources, Foreign Relations, and Aging Committees. McCormick will also serve on the Joint Economic Committee, which also includes members of the House to “review economic conditions and to recommend improvements in economic policy.” McCormick has vowed to focus on many of the same issues he highlighted during last year’s campaign. He told local news he plans to focus on the U.S.-Mexico border, the fentanyl crisis, the economy and jobs when he’s sworn in to the Senate.
House’s First Order of Business: Elect a Speaker
When the House convenes Friday, the first order of business is to elect a Speaker of the House. Current Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, is backed by President Trump to keep his job. While there are a small handful of House GOP members opposed to Johnson’s speakership, it is believed Johnson “will eventually land the votes.” He has worked to earn the support of his caucus and has been talking with those opposed to him, acknowledging concerns over “process” in the House.
Once Congress gets to work, there is a lot to be done. At some point in mid-January, the United States will hit its debt limit, requiring action from Congress to either raise or suspend it. Trump is not eager to have to deal with a debt ceiling fight in his first months back in office. He is pushing Congressional Republicans to “force” Democrats to take the vote on the debt ceiling, saying Democrats “should be blamed for this potential disaster”, referring to the massive amounts of government spending President Biden and Congressional Democrats approved over the last four years.
Also, of importance is passing a farm bill, which provides insurance payments for farmers hit by natural disasters and nutrition programs for poor Americans. The previous Congress could not pass a bill in time, and a clean extension of the previous farm bill was passed. Those nutrition programs, the largest of which is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), has been a perennial focus from conservatives who believe there is a large amount of waste and fraud in the program. The co-lead of the extra-governmental group Department of Government Efficiency Vivek Ramaswamy recently said eliminating fraud and waste in SNAP would save billions.
On energy, a Trump administration and Republican Congress could help provide certainty to Pennsylvania’s energy sector, which is second in the nation in natural gas exploration, largely thanks to fracking. Trump’s promise to “drill, baby, drill” and maximize utilization of America’s natural resources will likely allow Pennsylvania to continue its energy dominance, particularly as Trump’s pick to head the Department of Energy comes from the oil and gas industry.
Finally, Congressional Republicans have signaled they will work with President-elect Trump to enact major immigration reform, including what critics are calling “mass deportation” of the millions of individuals illegally residing in the United States.
