Congress returned to Washington this week for the first time since September. New member orientation as well as GOP leadership elections highlighted the week.
Rep.-elect Sam T. Liccardo, D-Calif., talks with the media on Tuesday outside the AC Hotel on Capitol Hill as new members arrived for orientation week. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
From left, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., hold a post-election news conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday, when it became clear that Republicans would maintain the House majority next year. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)Vice President-elect JD Vance arrives for the Senate Republican leadership election in the Capitol on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the incoming Senate majority leader, shakes hands with incoming National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., after the Republican leadership election in the Capitol on Wednesday. Also appearing are, from left, incoming Republican Conference Vice Chair James Lankford, R-Okla., Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Policy Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Conference Chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., listens as others speak during Senate Democrats’ weekly news conference in the Capitol on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., talks with reporters about the nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to be attorney general, outside a Senate Judiciary Committee markup on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)A reporter takes a picture of the name plate of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in the Rayburn building on Thursday. Gaetz resigned from Congress after President-elect Donald Trump announced he would nominate him to be attorney general. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks with reporters before a vote in the Capitol on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)Lance Cpl. Chesty XVI, the mascot of the Marine Corps, walks through the Senate subway in the Capitol on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)From left, Reps.-elect Laura Friedman, D-Calif., Eugene Vindman, D-Va., and Wesley Bell, D-Mo., take a selfie on the House steps after the freshman members of Congress posed for their class photo on Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)