On today’s show we are giving a very special welcome to the 113th Congress, who at noon today will be sworn in to office. As we have discussed on The Cycle the 112th Congress was the least productive.
If you take a closer look at the 113th Congressional breakdown it does resemble to the 112th . So, with the low threshold can the 113th do any better? Here is the current breakdown of the 113th Congress. Republicans control the House: 233 Republicans to 200 Democrats and two vacancies. While the Senate is still controlled by the Democrats with a slightly larger margin than the last two years 55-45 majority. That includes two independents who will caucus with the Democrats. Furthermore, a record breaking 20 women will serve in the Senate. To top all of this off, for the first time in history the majority of the House Democratic Caucus is not made up of White Men. Thus, this is clearly a historic Congress, but it still has the same leaders as before: John Boehner (R-OH), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Harry Reid (D-NV).
So with all of the same people being in charge how can anything be different this time around? And will President Obama have a less contentious relationship with this Congress than he did with the 112th? The Cyclists will dive into all of these questions and more throughout today’s show. Joining our special themed show today are: Former Governor Ed Rendell, TIME Michael Crowley, Politico Jonathan Allen, and msnbc Contributor Jimmy Williams who will all give their take on the future of the 113th Congress.
Do you have any advice for the 113th Congress? If you do, write it on our Facebook page and it may end up as part of our special themed show. See you at 3 p.m. where we are starting off the show with a special song dedicated exclusively to this new Congress