The newly elected US Congress to meet for the first time

After the midterm elections last November, the elected US Congress is scheduled to meet for the first time on Tuesday.

Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives, while in the Senate, Democrats led by President Joe Biden continue to gain a slim majority.

In the congressional elections at the beginning of November, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate were redistributed. Both chambers now meet for the first time at noon on Tuesday with the new members.

The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, wants to be elected speaker of the opening session. This powerful office ranks third in the political power structure in the United States after the president and vice president.

In view of the narrow Republican majority, McCarthy had great difficulty obtaining sufficient votes in the ranks of his own party. Thus, the speaker election may be more complicated than usual.

With their new power in the House of Representatives, Republicans could make life difficult for Biden. They have already announced congressional investigations of him and other members of the government and will be able to block legislation at will.