4 members to watch in the new Congress
Savvy communicators should keep their eye on the new power players.
Many, many words have been written (including by us) about what the Trump administration 2.0 will look like.
But the presidency is only one aspect of the new government that will begin in January. The second – and the one that will take effect sooner, on Jan. 3 – is Congress.
Ten new senators will take their seat in the higher chamber, with an additional two yet to be determined to replace JD Vance, who will become vice president, and Marco Rubio, who has been tapped as secretary of state. In the House, 62 new representatives will be sworn in, with another three to be named later to take the seats of Elise Stefanik and Michael Waltz, who will move to the cabinet, and Matt Gaetz, who resigned.
“Republicans are on track to have an extremely narrow majority, one that it’s continuing to slim as President-elect Trump selects cabinet appointments and nominations from the House,” said Mychael Schnell, Congressional reporter at The Hill. “So as that margin decreases, that makes it more difficult for Republicans, and particularly Speaker Mike Johnson, to usher through some of those priorities.”
The Hill will host a Meet the New Members event in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 11 to help introduce this new class of legislators, moderated by Schnell and Kellie Meyer, Washington correspondent for NewsNation. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at the movers and shakers of the 119th Congress – and what communicators need to know.
- Sarah McBride (D-Delaware)
Sarah McBride has made history as the country’s first trans woman elected to Congress. But that achievement has also come with controversy: Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) successfully lobbied to ban McBride from using multi-stall women’s restrooms in the Capitol.
“She’s going to be definitely somebody to keep an eye on, both for her history-making presence on Capitol Hill – it’s a big deal being the first transgender individual — but also because of this culture war issue and this hot button issue and debate we’re already seeing play out even before she’s come up to Capitol Hill,” Schnell said.
- Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania)
McCormick won a narrow victory to unseat three-term Democrat Bob Casey in the closely watched battleground state. Meyer, a Pennsylvania native, said she’ll be closely watching how the Republican interfaces with his fellow Senators – including his fellow Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, the outspoke, sometimes controversial Democrat.
- John McGuire (R-Virginia)
Schnell is keeping her eye on John McGuire, who successfully primaried House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good and went on to win the general election in November. Good was known as one of the more conservative members of the House.
“I’m interested to see how John McGuire will navigate the Capitol, being that he ran a race that, in some ways, was to the right of Bob Good,” Schnell said. “Some folks wonder, ‘well, what could the right of Bob Good look like?’”
- John Thune (R-South Dakota)
John Thune has served in the Senate for nearly 20 years, but he will be assuming a new role come January: Senate majority leader, stepping into the big shoes of Mitch McConnell as the Kentucky senator retires.
“We know (House Majority Leader Mike) Johnson is spending a lot of time at Mar-a-Lago and with President-elect Trump,” Meyer said. “Thune we know is just getting his way (into Trump’s orbit) as he was just elected. I think for people at home, it’s important to know who’s in the congressional leadership, because that’s where a lot of the shots are called, and what gets through really has to go through them first.”
Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Bluesky or LinkedIn.
