WASHINGTON — Rep. Kelly Morrison became Minnesota’s newest member of Congress on Friday on a day when politics threatened to sour the festival atmosphere that characterizes the first day of Congress.
Lawmakers, especially freshmen like Morrison, who won the 3rd District seat vacated by retired Rep. Dean Phillip, brought spouses, children and friends to witness their swearing in.
Constituents, and lobbyists, gathered at receptions held in lawmakers’ Capitol Hill offices. In Morrison’s new office in the Longworth House Office Building, visitors from Minnesota and elsewhere watched the drama of the roll call vote for Speaker of the House, cheering when Morrison cast her first vote in Congress — for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.
After a rough start, Rep. Mike Johnson, R.-La., was reelected speaker. That only happened after President-elect Donald Trump intervened with phone calls to Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Keith Self, R-Texas, persuading them to flip the votes they had cast during a roll call to support Johnson.
One rebel, Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., stubbornly refused to change his vote. He voted for Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota’s 6th District, who will continue to serve as House Majority Whip in the new Congress.
“I’m glad that the Republicans came around and chose a speaker so we can get to work on behalf of the 3rd District and America,” Morrison said.
But with a slim majority and a rebellious group of hard-right GOP lawmakers who belong to the Freedom Caucus, the festivities of the opening day of Congress belied the interparty problems that face House Republicans.
“We did this despite our sincere reservations regarding the Speaker’s track record over the past 15 months,” the Freedom Caucus said in a statement.
And partisanship — largely put aside for the day — is expected to come back in full force next week when the House GOP begins to try to press forward with Trump’s agenda.
Large contingent
But Morrison, who prides herself on an ability to reach across the aisle, said she’s not daunted by the House’s tendency toward chaos.
An OB-GYN who served in both the Minnesota House and Senate, Morrison said she knows the lower chambers “tend to be a bit chaotic.” But she said “I’m up to the challenge.”
“I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to find common ground and come together,” she added.
House members were sworn in en masse on the House floor. But most of them also attended a ceremonial swearing in with the newly elected Speaker Johnson. He was taken aback by the number of family members who attended Morrison’s swearing in. Those included her husband John, daughters Kyra and Kate and son Rhys, as well as Morrison’s mom and dad, aunt, niece and nephew.
“I like it,” Johnson said of Morrison’s decision to bring a large clan.
In the Senate, Minnesota’s Democratic senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, were also sworn in to the 119th Congress. But Democrats lost their majority in that chamber in November’s election and they are now relegated to the minority.
In a statement, Klobuchar also said she hopes to find common ground with her GOP colleagues.
“My North Star is simple: results matter,” Klobuchar said.
Ana Radelat
Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.
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