112th Congress begins

The divided government is back as the 112th Congress convenes.

Vice President Joe Biden will swear in 13 new senators on Wednesday, but the spotlight for weeks to come will be on the GOP-led House. Banished to the minority for four years, House Republicans say they have learned their lessons and will make the lower chamber more transparent.

{mosads}Part of that commitment to transparency is to publish bills 72 hours before they are voted on. Both parties have made similar pledges before and failed to follow through. In an interview with The Hill last year, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who headed the GOP’s transition to the majority, vowed that this time Republicans will keep that promise.

After a bipartisan prayer service in the nation’s capital on Wednesday morning, House members will be sworn into office. Rep. John Boehner will then be elected as Speaker, and incoming Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will hand over the gavel she won four years ago to the 61-year-old Ohio Republican.

The first legislative order of business will be to cut the House budget. In a mostly symbolic move that will save more than $35 million this year, the House will vote on a resolution that would cut office expenses by 5 percent. 

Republicans say they are leading by example, and the resolution will probably attract broad bipartisan support.

The hard part will come later, though, when Republicans attempt to make major cuts to government programs run by the executive branch.

General promises to cut spending resonate with the public, but the fight really begins when specific cuts are proposed. Boehner has vowed to bring cost-cutting bills to the floor every week the House is in session. 

The Senate will operate very differently from how it did in the 111th Congress. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has a much smaller majority to work with, so bipartisan deals with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will not be as rare as they were in the first two years of the Obama administration.

Still, Reid and McConnell, who have a solid working relationship, will battle on many issues, most notably healthcare reform.

The House is expected to pass a healthcare repeal measure next week, probably in as partisan a debate as that which preceded its passage last March.

Some Democrats claim they are looking forward to the debate. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said this week that Republicans “beat us in round one with lies and scare tactics — we welcome a second shot.”

McConnell knows he doesn’t have the votes to pass a repeal bill in the Senate, much less overturn a presidential veto. But GOP lawmakers and aides say the debate on the issue helps them politically and starts to pave the way for a Republican to win the White House in 2012.