House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is applauded by U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and other members as she is nominated for House Speaker as the U.S. House of Representatives meets for the start of the 116th Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 3, 2019.
CAPITOL HILL —
A new, politically divided U.S. Congress is being sworn in and confronts an immediate task: ending a partial government shutdown that is nearing the two-week mark.
A day of pageantry on Capitol Hill as Democrats take control of the House of Representatives and Republicans see their Senate majority bolstered.
House Democrats have pledged to pass a spending bill that includes border security funding, but omits money for wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border, as demanded by President Donald Trump.
Democrats Take Control of US House
1/11House speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who will lead the 116th Congress as Speaker of the House is handed the gavel by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 3, 2019.
2/11House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is applauded by U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and other members as she is nominated for House Speaker as the U.S. House of Representatives meets for the start of the 116th Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington,
3/11Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) takes a selfie photo with U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) as the U.S. House of Representatives meets for the start of the 116th Congress inside the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan.
4/11Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., talks on the House floor before being sworn in at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 3, 2019.
5/11U.S. Representative-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MI) arrives inside the House Chamber as the U.S. House of Representatives meets for the start of the 116th Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 3, 2019.
6/11Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the first Palestinian-American elected to the House, poses with supporters outside her office at the Longworth House Office Building (LHOB), in Washington, D.C., Jan. 3, 2019.
7/11A supporter of India's main opposition Congress Party reacts as she is detained by police during a protest after the party leader Rahul Gandhi was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, in Ahmedabad. (REUTERS/Amit Dave)
8/11U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) holds his daughter Kathryn as the U.S. House of Representatives meets for the start of the 116th Congress inside the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 3, 2019.
9/11House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is embraced by U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) inside the House Chamber as the U.S. House of Representatives meets for the start of the 116th Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 3, 2019.
10/11House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who is expected to lead the 116th Congress as speaker of the House, and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., are applauded at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 3, 2019.
11/11House Democratic leader and House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds the hand of her grand daughter as the U.S. House of Representatives meets for the start of the 116th Congress inside the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 3, 201
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That makes the bill a non-starter for Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“The Senate will not waste its time considering a Democratic bill which cannot pass this chamber and which the president will not sign,” he said.
Amid the funding standoff, House Democrats are eager to use their majority to launch multiple investigations of the Trump White House and his administration as a whole.
