‘The 120th Congress is coming’: Dems who flipped the US House pack freshman orientation

WASHINGTON — With a sweeping majority secured in the U.S. House next Congress, newly elected Democrats arrived in the nation’s capital this week vowing to act on their agenda of affordability and accountability. The dozens of Democrats who flipped the House majority are in Washington, D.C., for several days as part of new member orientation. The onboarding tradition for both parties features training sessions and programming, as well as a class photo on the U.S. Capitol steps and a room lottery to determine their office spaces. In early January, the new members will be sworn in, and Democrats will spend the next two years attempting to deliver on the issues they spent months campaigning on — ranging from lowering the high cost of healthcare to enacting anti-corruption efforts to trying to overturn the GOP’s mega tax and spending cut law. Their introduction was overwhelming at times. Rep.-elect J.D. Ford, the Democrat who will represent Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, said orientation is “definitely like drinking from a fire hose, but I’m just trying to take it day by day.’’ Ford said he’s “really excited to make some relationships,” noting that “obviously this building is all about that, so this has been really good for us to not just meet members of my own party, but potential members I could work across the aisle with.” Rep.-elect Oliver G. Gilbert III, set to represent Florida’s historically Black-dominated 24th Congressional District, said “we have a lot to do, but I know we’re up to the task. “This country is 250 years old, and we’re the greatest country in the history of the world, but our greatness is always tomorrow, it’s not yesterday, so it’s what we make it, and so, we’re going to make it something better in this Congress,” he said. “The 120th Congress is coming.” The blue tsunami During the programming, States Newsroom got a glimpse into the top priorities of several incoming Democratic members, who are riding on the heels of a blue tsunami that swept the country on Election Day and also flipped the U.S. Senate. At least 75 new House Democrats, excluding non-voting delegates, have been elected as of Wednesday afternoon, The Associated Press projected, with 12 races to be called. Democrats will control at least 255 seats in the House, according to the AP. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York — the likely speaker in the new Congress — would helm Democrats’ legislative agenda if elected by his peers. But with more than two years left in office, President Donald Trump is all but certain to veto many of Democrats’ measures, potentially making the party’s work more of a messaging exercise ahead of the 2028 presidential election. Still, Democratic members-elect who made a new majority laid out the visions they are eager to deliver on in the next Congress, fueled by voters’ concerns in their districts: Florida Gilbert, set to represent the Sunshine State’s 24th Congressional District, wants to “make the American dream more accessible,” pointing to affordability and accountability as the avenue to those aims. “When I talk to people, it doesn’t matter whether you’re speaking Haitian Creole, you’re speaking Spanish, you’re speaking English, they’re all worried about the price of gas, the accessibility of healthcare, the lack of affordable, quality housing, how your kids are going to be educated, whether the American dream is still going to be accessible to them,” Gilbert said. Indiana Ford, who unseated incumbent Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, said he heard “over and over again” from voters in the district that they were “really tired of seeing the grift from…

Originally published by News From The States.
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