Contents

• The Senate Convenes
• Oath of Office and Quorum
• Notification to the President and the House
• Election of the President Pro Tempore
• Party Leadership
• Election of Officers
• Daily Meeting Time of the Senate
• Other First-Day Floor Activities
• Standing Orders for the Current Congress
• Senate Rules
• Special Circumstances
• Legislative Agenda
• Other Administrative Matters
• Committee Organization

Summary

The Constitution mandates that Congress convene at noon on January 3 unless the preceding Congress, by law, designated a different day. P.L. 113-201 set January 6, 2015, as the convening date of the 114^th Congress. The 115^th, 116^th, 117^th, and 118^th Congresses convened on January 3. Congressional leaders announced that the 119^th Congress will convene January 3, 2025.

The Senate follows a well-established routine on the opening day of a new Congress. The proceedings include

• swearing in Senators elected or reelected in the most recent general election (approximately one-third of the Senate) or newly appointed to the convening Senate,
• establishing the presence of a quorum,
• adopting administrative resolutions,
• adopting standing orders for the new Congress,
• agreeing by unanimous consent to a date (other than the convening date) on which bills and joint resolutions may begin to be introduced, and
• electing a new President pro tempore and one or more Senate officers if there is a vacancy or a change in party control.

The majority and minority leaders usually make welcoming remarks during the day's proceedings. If an election to a Senate seat is undecided or subject to consideration by the Senate, the majority leader and other Senators might address the Senate's posture on that election.

Other first-day activities may occur as a consequence of specific circumstances, such as providing for a joint session with the House to count electoral votes after a presidential election. After Senators are sworn or after organizational proceedings are completed, the Senate may turn to legislative or executive business or other activities.

Following their official swearing-in on the Senate floor, newly sworn Senators gather with their families in the Old Senate Chamber for ceremonial swearings-in with the Vice President or another official of their choosing. The ceremonial swearings-in may be photographed and recorded.

Negotiations between parties over committee sizes and ratios, parties' action on committee assignments, and parties' decisions on party leadership changes and organization may begin during the early organization meetings for the new Senate, which occur in November and December following a general election. The committee assignment process may continue after the beginning days of a new Congress. At some time, usually other than opening day, the Senate adopts committee assignment resolutions. Any changes in Senate party leadership take place in respective party conference meetings. There are no floor votes to ratify party leadership changes.

For an explanation of proceedings occurring on the first day in the House of Representatives, see CRS Report RL30725, The First Day of a New Congress: A Guide to Proceedings on the House Floor, by Christopher M. Davis.

The Senate Convenes

The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution directs that a new Congress convene at noon on January 3 in each odd-numbered year unless the preceding Congress has, by law, designated a different day for the new Congress's convening.¹ Leaders in both chambers have announced that they expect to convene the 119^th Congress on January 3, 2025.² The previous four Congresses also convened on January 3, obviating the need for a law to set an alternative date. Over the past 30 years, however, it has been the exception rather than the rule for a new Congress to begin on January 3. Nine of the past 15 Congresses began on a date other than January 3:

• 104^th Congress (January 4, 1995);
• 105^th Congress (January 7, 1997);
• 106^th Congress (January 6, 1999);
• 108^th Congress (January 7, 2003);
• 109^th Congress (January 4, 2005);
• 110^th Congress (January 4, 2007);
• 111^th Congress (January 6, 2009);
• 112^th Congress (January 5, 2011); and
• 114^th Congress (January 6, 2015).

Since 1995, Congress has convened on January 3 in the 107^th and 113^th Congresses, as well as in the 115^th-118^th Congresses (2001, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023, respectively).

The sitting Vice President, named by the Constitution as President of the Senate, presides when the Senate first convenes. The Senate chaplain offers a prayer and the Vice President leads the Senate in the Pledge of Allegiance.³ The Vice President then announces the receipt of the certificates and credentials of election of Senators who were newly elected or reelected in the most recent general election and the certificates of appointment for Senators newly appointed to fill a vacancy. The reading of these documents is waived by unanimous consent, and they are printed in full in the Congressional Record.⁴

Oath of Office and Quorum

The first order of business in a new Senate is the swearing-in of Senators elected or reelected in the most recent general election and of newly appointed Senators. If there is a contested or undecided Senate election, the leadership might provide a status report and plan for its resolution before or after Senators are sworn in.⁵

After the Vice President lays the certificates of election⁶ and appointment before the Senate and states that their reading will be waived if there is no objection, he or she calls those Senators to the front of the chamber, generally in alphabetical order in groups of four, to take the oath and to also "subscribe to the oath" in the official oath book.⁷ Each Senator may be accompanied by the other Senator from his or her state, the Senator he or she is replacing, or a former Senator.⁸

An oath is mandated by Article VI of the Constitution. Its text is set by statute (5 U.S.C. §3331).⁹

The oath, which is the same for Representatives and executive and judicial appointees, is as follows:

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.

When Senators take the oath, they raise their right hand to swear or affirm, repeating after the Vice President. Many Senators hold a family Bible or another item,¹⁰ and some hold nothing. There is no requirement that a Bible or anything else be used when the oath is taken.¹¹

After the Senators have taken the oath in the Senate chamber, the Vice President recognizes the majority leader, who notes the absence of a quorum. The Vice President directs the Senate clerk to call the roll, and all Senators are normally present to respond, fulfilling the constitutional requirement that a quorum be present to conduct business.¹²

Notification to the President and the House

The majority leader offers simple resolutions that the President (S.Res. 1, 118^th Congress) and the House (S.Res. 2, 118^th Congress) be formally notified that a quorum of the Senate is assembled and ready to proceed to business. Subsequently, pursuant to the resolution providing for notification of the President, the House and Senate leadership telephone the President with the news that a quorum of each house of Congress has assembled and is prepared to begin its work.¹³

Election of the President Pro Tempore

As provided by the Constitution, the President pro tempore is chosen by the Senate to serve as the presiding officer during the absence of the Vice President.¹⁴ Referred to as the President pro tem, this Senator has customarily been the majority party Senator with the longest continuous service.¹⁵

When there is a change in party control of the Senate, or when a vacancy in the office of President pro tempore occurs, a new President pro tempore is elected by simple resolution and then proceeds to the front of the chamber to be sworn in by the Vice President. Afterwards, the Senate adopts simple resolutions to notify the House and the President of the election of the President pro tempore.¹⁶

Party Leadership

Any changes in Senate party leadership take place in the respective party conference meetings prior to opening day or, if there is a vacancy, at another time. No floor votes are needed to ratify these changes.¹⁷

Election of Officers

Since the Senate is a continuing body, its officers—the Secretary of the Senate, Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, chaplain, and majority and minority party secretaries¹⁸—do not need to be reelected on the opening day of a new Congress.¹⁹ However, when there is a change in party control or a vacancy at the beginning of a Congress, any new officers are approved by the full Senate.²⁰

In addition, since the Senate's legal counsel and deputy legal counsel are typically appointed by the President pro tempore for the duration of only two Congresses, they are appointed or reappointed every four years, and simple resolutions are adopted effecting the appointments.²¹

Daily Meeting Time of the Senate

The Senate establishes its daily hour of meeting by a simple resolution, which must be renewed each Congress. This resolution is usually offered by the majority leader.²²

Other First-Day Floor Activities

Standing Orders for the Current Congress

Other organizational business is taken up on the Senate floor on the first day. At the beginning of the 118^th Congress, as in preceding Congresses, the Senate adopted en bloc, by unanimous consent, 11 standing orders for the duration of the current Congress.²³ These standing orders addressed

• meetings of the Select Committee on Ethics;
• limiting roll call votes to 15 minutes;
• authorizing Senators to present reports at the desk;
• allowing 10 additional minutes daily to speak for each party leader ("leader time");
• forgoing the printing of conference reports and joint explanatory statements when they are printed as House reports;
• allowing the Appropriations Committee to file reports during an adjournment or recess of the Senate;
• authorizing the Secretary of the Senate to make technical and clerical corrections to engrossments of Senate-passed bills, resolutions, and amendments;
• during an adjournment or recess of the Senate, authorizing the Secretary of the Senate to receive presidential messages and House messages (except for House legislation) and authorizing the President pro tempore to sign enrollments;
• allowing Senators to designate two staff members for floor access during the Senate's consideration of specific matters;
• allowing treaties and nominations to be referred when received; and
• permitting Senators to introduce bills and resolutions by taking them to the desk.

Senate Rules

Article I, Section 2, of the Constitution provides for a system of staggered six-year terms for Senators, one-third of their terms expiring at the conclusion of each Congress. The Senate has interpreted the constitutional arrangement to mean that it is a continuing body, since a quorum is always sworn, and that it therefore does not have to organize itself with each new Congress, as does the House of Representatives. One consequence, among others, of this interpretation is that the Senate does not adopt or re-adopt its rules when a new Congress convenes, the interpretation meaning that the rules continue in effect from one Congress to the next.²⁴

Special Circumstances

Other first-day activities might occur as a consequence of specific circumstances.²⁵ For example, following a presidential election, the Senate adopts a concurrent resolution to meet in joint session with the House to count the electoral votes for the President and Vice President,²⁶ continue the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and permit use of the Capitol for inaugural activities.²⁷

Legislative Agenda

The Republican and Democratic leaders might address the Senate, possibly describing highlights of the legislative schedule ahead or discussing other pertinent issues.²⁸ Other Senators might be recognized to speak after the Senate has completed its proceedings involving the oath of office and the consideration of resolutions and unanimous consent requests.

Sometimes on the first day, the Senate might also adopt a concurrent resolution providing for a January adjournment or for the joint session at which Congress will receive the President's State of the Union address.²⁹

Other Administrative Matters

After the Senate has completed its organizational proceedings, it may turn to other activities it has agreed to undertake, such as the introduction and reference of legislation, speeches, and appointments.³⁰ In addition, following the sine die adjournment of the preceding Congress through the convening of the new Congress, the Secretary of the Senate will have received, on the Senate's behalf, messages from the House of Representatives,³¹ the President, and executive departments and agencies.³² The Senate also receives new messages, such as from the House on its convening and election of the Speaker and its officers.³³ On the first day of a new Congress, messages will be disposed of, typically by reference to the relevant committee.³⁴

Committee Organization

Negotiations between parties over committee sizes and ratios and separate committee assignment processes begin prior to the convening of a new Congress and mostly within the party groups—the Democratic and Republican Conferences.³⁵ The only action taken on the chamber floor is the subsequent adoption of simple resolutions assigning Senators from each party to committees agreed upon by the respective party conference. The adoption of both parties' resolutions is routine.³⁶

Committee assignment resolutions are not normally considered on the opening day of a new Congress but instead later in January.³⁷ Committee funding resolutions are also considered later in February or early March.³⁸

In years in which a new President will be inaugurated, Senate committees begin hearings on designated Cabinet secretaries pending the formal submission of nominations once the President-elect has been inaugurated.³⁹

Mildred Amer, a former CRS specialist on the Congress initially wrote this report. Michael L. Koempel, a former senior specialist in American National Government, and Judy Schneider, a former specialist on Congress updated and made significant contributions to it. The listed author updated the report and is available to respond to congressional inquiries on the topic.

Footnotes