As stated in the United States Constitution in 1789, all legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Though I apologize in advance for geeking out over such an incredible touch point in our nation’s history, on Thursday the 116th class of Congress will be sworn in, and that, in it of itself represents the most culturally, racially, and socioeconomically diverse convening of Congress in the history of the U.S. Our new Congress will feature incredible amounts of much-needed female representation, including Muslim women, as well as Native American women, both of which have yet to be represented in Congress to this point. Shockingly enough, the racial/cultural barriers broken by Thursday’s swearing-in of the 116th Congress were the work of both the Democratic and Republican parties. In addition to this, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will continue to serve as the first and only female Speaker of the House ever.
The 116th Congress, while celebrated for being incredible inclusive in terms of representing other cultures, genders, and races, will see itself in more headlines as the year roll along, because the Democrats now control the House of Representatives. House Democrats have said they hope to sit down with President Donald Trump work with him on two goals of his — passing of a massive infrastructure bill, and a bill bringing down prescription drug prices — even though he is currently under federal investigation for alleged collusion and corruptive acts. As far as their own collective priorities for the new House Democratic leadership, representatives from the Democratic Party plans on doing everything in their power to lower the cost of healthcare, tackle issues with the country’s roads and infrastructure, and most notably working on anti-corruption legislation, according to Vox.
According to several sources, the first bill House Democrats will tackle immediately after they take their seats has to do with remediating our country’s issue with corruption and anti-democratic practices. If passed, House Resolution 1 will institute new guidelines for campaign financing, reform anti-lobbying laws, as well as expand voting rights for citizens in the country.
In terms of campaign spending, a recent Pew Research Center report found that 77% of the public believes “there should be limits on the number of money individuals and organizations” are allowed to spend on political campaigns. For those unclear of why limits on spending are important, think about how easy it is for large corporations with billions of dollars to influence elections and fund candidates that will allow them to continue business as usual. The reduction of the role of money in politics would see that candidates would have to return to actually convincing the general public that they should be elected to office.
Secondly, the Democratic leadership will do everything they can to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act, a piece of legislation brought forth to restore the original 1965 Voting Rights Act, which, if restored, would make it more difficult for states to discriminate against non-white voters/other marginalized racial groups.
“While we no longer have to count how many jelly beans are in a jar or recite all of the 67 counties of Alabama in order to be able to vote, we are seeing greater efforts putting restrictions on voting in the name of fraud.”
–Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL)
Perhaps the most important component of the Democrats taking back the House is the greater influence they will have on the current investigation into President Trump’s potential collision with Russia to influence the 2016 Presidential election. With House majority, Democrats now possess the power to subpoena the President. As for how they will use this power, we will have to wait and see, but 2019, in terms of political excitement, is set to be a monumental year.
